Buying second hand sails

[Daydream believer]

Nearly got away with it. Finished work early to collect personally from the sailmaker. Then dropped the sail on board. Plan was good until sailmaker sent a copy of the receipt in the mail which she opened

Bit sad when one has to hide such things from one's other half
It is the sort of comment that regularly appears on this forum though.

 

[G12]

+1 for avoiding Exchange Sails. Total crooks.

 

[Pete7]

Bit sad when one has to hide such things from one's other half
It is the sort of comment that regularly appears on this forum though.

And in half jest, she trusts me and I trust her

 

[Farmerwilliam]

+1 for avoiding Exchange Sails. Total crooks.

I bought one sail from Exchange Sails and it was ok and service acceptable. In addition John Pollard gave me an old spinnaker turtle bag for free. I also made the error of lodging three good sails with them to list as part of the stock . I managed to get one back and have been chasing for the return of others since October 2020. I had some initial replies and then radio silence. Having seen the common thread in this forum , I think next step may be the small claims court.

Now, I seem to be getting the run around and suspect the sails may have been sold and money retained. I either want the money or my sails back !

 

[G12]

I have an almost carbon copy experience. They stopped taking my calls and fobbed me off with large servings of bullshit for ages.
I eventually got a cheque from them.... which bounced and then went through on second submission.
God knows where my sails went!

 

[Laminar Flow]

We spent 56 Euro a sqm for a complete set of new tan sails for our Watson in Holland (see avatar). Full batten main and mizzen, padded luff on the genny and staysail. Contender sail cloth made in NL. For the price the sailmaker & loft owner himself came to measure up, put up with my demands and obsessive fussing and did the final fitting as well. Nice quality and delivered on time.

New sails make a significant improvement to the performance - the advice not to bother because it's "just" a motorsailer is rubbish.

Do all you can to increase SA: full battens with maximum roach on main; padded luff on the furler to maximize overlap on the genny. You wont regret it.

 

[rszemeti]

Looks like the old thread about this company has been deleted:

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?493463-Yacht-Exchange-Sails-Westaway-Sails

Very odd!

 

[sailoppopotamus]

Genoa and main for a 31ft sloop can be easily had for well less than £5000. I spent slightly more than half of that for a crosscut main and 130% roller genoa with foam luff for my 30ft boat. I also got a new spinnaker. In hindsight I think the new spinnaker was a mistake (I should have bought a used one, undersized for the boat), but the money on the other two sails was well spent. Not very sure I'd get lazy bag, were I to do it again.

 

[ashtead]

Should you be looking for a second hand cruising chute Gby C for a 34ft then do PM

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I would hope you could get both for a 31ft yacht for about £3000, I did. But only if you are quick as the worlds wakes up in the Spring and everyone wants their sails now. Your biggest problem might be choosing a sail material. I found this useful to avoid the cheap stuff.

Sanders Sails: Materials | Sailmaking, Sailmakers, Yacht Marine Upholstery, Dinghies, Boat Design | Lymington, South Coast, Hampshire

I got white sails for a Moody 31 (probably a bigger rig than the Fisher 31), including stackpack and lazyjacks, for just under £3,000 from Jeckells.