Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
He might even sing if you ask him nicely. Though his repertoire is quite limited.
Expensive sailmakers
- Thread starter zoidberg
- Start date
billyfish
Active member
That's his brother ...Mike
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Dick was Wellington, Mike may have written it, but all 4 Batt brothers were Wombles.
However, a shady past in pop music has not detracted from his sailmaking abilities.
vyv_cox
Well-known member
I have used Kemp for my Vectran sails, bought in about 1999 and still good other than the stitching. I then bought a stack pack from them, excellent, and a Hydranet genoa just before lockdown. All good products. I would happily use them again.
steveeasy
Well-known member
I recon reputation is everything in relation to sails. I bought new sails for my last boat. Unfortunately I took little notice of good advice here and made a decision based on price. I saved just under a £1000. I thought at the time they would be ok for my boat. They were just a disappointment. By far the most crucial part of a sailboat and they just need to be as good as they can be.
Steveeasy
Steveeasy
fredrussell
Well-known member
When I was ringing around for a new set of sails, one thing that many sailmakers told me was that the advances in sail cloth, including the basic Dacron stuff, over the last 20 or 30 years, means that ‘baggyness’ over time is very much reduced nowadays. A few contributors have said how good their sails are after 10 years or more - I suppose (and hope) this would back up what I was told, although I accept it could be just marketing bluster.
vyv_cox
Well-known member
I bought my Vectran sails after reading a report of the condition of a suit that had circumnavigated on one of the British Steel boats. The rules prohibited sail changes, so that suit had been used all the way.
The report by the original sailmaker stated that no stretch could be detected and the sails could be used for a second circumnavigation without loss of performance.
After 20 years of fairly intensive use I can only concur.
jwfrary
Well-known member
My sails built by sanders are also vectran (though I expect the version that replace the hood one after they went bust.) they have held thier shape well, both main and jib. They are quite stiff though, if your replacing a sail then you might need to budget for a slightly more generous sail cover to go with it.
vyv_cox
Well-known member
Yes, they are heavy, not a lot of use in very light winds. I used a ghoster for a while but when cruising I rarely bother to sail upwind at 1-2 knots so I gave up.
jwfrary
Well-known member
We have quite a small non overlapping jib as the working sail, performs well in that, but a bigger genoa would be pretty unmanagble on deck short handed.
No1 is a radial cut dacron of some description which is a bit of a compromise but it came with the boat!
Santa didn't seem to get my letter about the new sails lol (just a roll of sail repair tape in the stocking) maybe I'm getting a hint!
Rafiki
Well-known member
I think a lot depends where you are. I am based on the East Coast My experience last winter for a Genoa was:I'm still hunting for a sailmaker who's most likely to 'tick the boxes' for two new headsails..... and some other stuff...... and I've spoken to a good few in recent weeks. It slightly pains my presbyterian soul to countenance, but 'the cheapest' is not necessarily a priority.
Lots of readers here will have cast around for sails and collected several 'quotations' reflecting a range of specification. For a slightly different perspective, what firm does the congregation consider to have been the more expensive of their quotes...?
Local one man band ( Suffolk Sails in Woodbridge), came to measure up, had made mainsail and sprayhood previously, price shall we say "X"
Kemp - quote was 1.2X
Far East Sails after taking account of shipping, VAT and Import duty was 0.7X
dave_gibsea
Member
I have been using Kemps for years, they listen to to what you want and give good advice, the sails are excellent quality and last.