About Us
Born in Olsztyn, Poland - The Zaleski twins grew up on the water.
We sailed our first dinghies (Cadets and 420s) on Poland’s famous Masurian Lakes in the summer, and raced DN ice boats in the winter.
Here we became obsessed with sailing better—going further and going faster.
In 1980 we moved from Olsztyn to Gdynia, to the seaside, to study at the National Maritime Academy. We discovered keel boats and raced IOR Quarter Tonners on the Baltic Sea, becoming repeat Polish Champions.
A Masters degree in Sea Navigation gave us the opportunity to serve as officers on merchant vessels, however, under the condition that we join “The Party”. Our allegiance with Solidarity and refusal to join communism ended our merchant marine careers before they even started. We have never looked back.
That’s when we started building boats and sails of our own. In fact, the boat and sails we used to win the Polish championship we built ourselves. Pioneers in the sail industry, our Kevlar sails were the first high-tech sails built in Poland.
Chris emigrated to the U.S. in 1988, and Waldek followed after 2 years in Ireland at McWillaims Sailmakers. Our passion for racing continued as we picked the competitive J/24 due to it’s similarity to the Quarter Tonner. It was also around this time that we joined expert sailmaker Chris Wentz at Sailspar Sailmakers, a partnership that quickly evolved into Z Sails.
Our racing successes include, but are not limited to, titles in one-design J/24, J/27, J/35, J/120 as well as the “over-all” in regattas such as the Newport/Bermuda Race, Block Island Race Week and Key West Race Week.
The story of Z Sails isn’t complete without Chris.
Chris Wentz
He grew up in a boating family, spending summers at the Jersey Shore, and by the time he was 10 he and his father had already built two boats. His racing career started in Lasers and E Scows in Barnegat Bay, and what followed was a decades-long love affair with sailing.
Chris worked for legendary MacLear & Harris, designing large and unique yachts for power and sail. He specialized in innovative technologies, including a high-performance canting keel, wood composite cruising yachts, and the largest (at the time) aluminum sailing vessel ever classified by Lloyd’s—a 98’ brigantine sailing auxiliary.
It was at M & H that Chris gained an appreciation for how a little forethought could greatly improve the design process, and he brought this discipline to Sailspar and Z Sails. This essential foundation is the philosophy that has dictated our design process since day one.
Chris’s spirit and vision are alive and well at the loft, and we work hard every day to honor his commitment to handcrafting the world’s best sails.