I’m the original photographer on this photo! I took it about fifteen years ago at a yachting display at Rockefeller Center in NYC. The week I shot it I posted it online somewhere, I forget where, and ever since then I’ve seen it pop up again and again. Mostly on Facebook. I’m delighted this shot is out there circulating and orbiting and occasionally popping up again. The photo is of a fragment of a sail from a J Class racer of the New York Yacht Club from the 1800’s, maybe Shamrock IV? It’s the Clue of the sail, I’m pretty sure, the aftermost lower corner and the eye is for the Clew Outhaul. (Edit) here’s some canvas sewing I do. This is a traditional “Palm & needle” sewn tote bag. If you look carefully you can see the rope grommets the handles are spliced into, my grommets suck but it’s the exact same technique you see in the main photo: poke a hole through the canvas and then sew a rope ring directly onto the edge of the hole. https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/comments/i3ipgr/another_nauticalwhale_tote_bag_made_of_recycled/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

If that's the corner of a sail from a yacht smaller than a sloop, I'm now a lot more curious about the reinforcements on a ship of the line.