Chinese Sails - Anyone had experience?

seanfoster

seanfoster

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I was doing an trawl on the internet for sails and came across a number of chinese sail makers. Seeing as you could request a quote online I sent off my details.

I've had a quote from a company called Lee Sails for my 25ft Dufour for a headsail and furling genoa for $1070 + $208 carriage, so this works out at about £900, I don't think I will have to pay Duty as most items imported from China have a zero rating (if anyone knows better than this could you enlighten me) although I would have to pay VAT.

Has anyone had any experience having your sails made this way? Be interested in quality, service, prices?
 
That seems pretty expensive to my mind, a lot depends on what spec you have set but if I were you I'd talk to some UK based ones as well, many of whom I understand have the sails made in the far east anyway. Your boat is one that is fairly common in the UK so most sailmakers will know what the ciritical dimensions are for their quotes already.
 
That sounds rather a lot. I've just taken delivery of new furling headsail and main from Hyde sails who have their sails made in the Philippines. I've only sailed with them once, since I've only just received them but am very happy so far. Excellent support from their local man here in Essex.

Happy to divulge cost and discount details to you if you want to send me a PM.

Morgan
 
I had a quote from a local company for a genoa for my 26 ft boat - and it was about £700. Now bearing in mind that they have a very good reputation, they will measure the boat themselves, fit the sail to the rig, and come for a test sail to verify that all is well, I know which I would chose.
 
Sounds expensive.Lee Sails used to be Hong Kong based and I have a well made cruising chute by them.Maybe they got the numbers wrong.You can get a cheaper main for your boat from a Uk sailmaker for sure.
 
And I think that when the doller was 2 to £ there may have been a small advantage. I bought mine from a UK loft, made in UK. Shall I do the bit about UK jobs etc?
 
I inherited a Chinese-made sail with a boat. Sail cloth is very good quality. Cut of the sail & other bits of detail are very poor.

Clearly made by a firm that knew how to make sail cloth but not how to make sails.

To be honest unless you can get it substantially cheaper in China I'd say go for a reputable local sailmaker. Someone you can get down to look at it on the boat if anything is not right.
 
"I don't think I will have to pay Duty as most items imported from China have a zero rating (if anyone knows better than this could you enlighten me) although I would have to pay VAT"
Not bought sails from China, but on other items I have had to pay duty based on the product, and the declared/invoice value sent via the post. Items sent by courier got through without charge. If the value is over $25 I think customs inspectors randomly take a look. Might be worth a phone call to the Customs and Excise help desk.
However as mentioned previously at a good exchange rate it might be a worthwhile proposition.
Consider also how are you going to pay for it (TT - £25, credit card-poor currency rate?), and the risks of non receipt or damaged goods, or even a manufacturing error.
I bought my sails from a UK sail maker, yes a bit expensive. Also their was a small error (a strap was not properly sewn on) on the sails which they collected and returned to my door in a few days
 
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