Hong Kong Sails

richardbayle

richardbayle

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Joined
3 Aug 2006
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446
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French Antilles
www.richardbayle.com
Should I or shouldn't I?

Nearly 2k cheaper than Jeckells and 800 than Doyle?

My head says go with Jeckells, my heart says stay with original equipment; the manufacturer should know what's best for the boat, my wallet is screaming Hong Kong

Help
 
My doyle sails were rubbish.
I do not believe Jeckels are the sort who can produce a top flight sail. Ok for simple cruising sail but!!
I was surprised how cheap my Hyde sails were by buying october for march delivery
& before anyone suggests kemp the service i had from them was abysmal & quality poor - had to go back for alteration
When i asked why this was taking so long i was told " well we have lots pf customers you will just have to wait your turn" when i replied that i had actually ordered my sails long before the current batch of customers & that i would have thought they should get mine done first they slammed the phone down on me
As for Goacher- it took the rya solicitor to get my money back following a cruising chute measured by them that did not fit in any dimension. I gave up trying to get the genoa right which they also pre measured in Windermere
 
I was surprised how cheap my Hyde sails were by buying october for march delivery
Click to expand...
If buying locally doesn't guarantee satisfaction, it makes it very hard not to go with Hong Kong sailmakers or someone like Cheung Lee Sails direct and cut the UK agent out. After all, Hyde's are made in the Philippines.
 
Daydream believer said:
In a factory owned by them
Measured by a Hyde rep on my boat
Click to expand...

I know, but my points are that having saisl made in the far east doesn't:
a) mean inferior work and
b) having a UK rep (or sailmaker themselves) measure your boat doesn't guarantee satisfaction. Your Hyde rep did well, but Kemp and Goacher clearly didn't.

So if you are confident about using the HK sailmaker's measurement form yourself, and take photos of the tack area, etc, why not go to the far east direct?
 
I'll stick my oar in and suggest Crusader

UK made in their own loft, great service and the price was similar to going with Hong Kong Sails
 
"I do not believe Jeckels are the sort who can produce a top flight sail. Ok for simple cruising sail but!!"

I'm curious to know what you mean by this for two reasons.
Firstly I believe I am right in recalling Jeckells, an old established sail loft in Wroxham, were responsible for supplying the sails selected and used by Sir Robin Knox Johnson in his first solo circumnavigation.
Secondly my own experience of having recently bought a new mainsail. The quality is outstanding and the service was second to none. Mark Woodford, the south coast representative measured up and was extremely helpful to the point that he even came to fit the sail when first supplied making necessary alterations to the mast gate free of charge!
Incidentally I've also had a very good experience with Kemp Sails some years ago.
It is probably reasonable to conclude that everyone's experience is entirely subjective.

I think the real question is whether you buy locally or not because if you do, you will get the local representative carrying out measurements for you which will usually mean that any fitting problems are not yours. If you buy sails anywhere that is not local and have to measure yourself then there is always the problem of what happens if it does not fit properly. I would imagine that those problems are magnified if you buy from anywhere abroad.
 
Doyle, had a asymmetric from them, was late and not particularly good
Crusader, asymmetric, poor after sales service, I gave up in the end.
Hydes, main and jib, good sails good price
 
TimBennet said:
If buying locally doesn't guarantee satisfaction, it makes it very hard not to go with Hong Kong sailmakers or someone like Cheung Lee Sails direct and cut the UK agent out. After all, Hyde's are made in the Philippines.
Click to expand...

If Doyle, Jeckels, Kemp, Goacher are all "rubbish" I doubt that sails made by God would please him.

FWIW, the Kemp sails on my boat have proved to be well made and service was fine though I always spoke top someone with the surname Kemp. As for Hong Kong sails, I am sure they will be OK and sevice will be OK too provided you dont have a dispute. If you do have a dispute then you are lost because legal action isnt viable cost wise in another jurisdiction. I suppose the credit card cover would help a bit
 
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Ask your local loft of repute if they make sails, if so, get them to quote.

Save greenhouse gasses, put cash into the local economy and sort out any problems face to face.

Measuring is daft, get your favourite sail to him and say: "make one like that". This cuts out several sources of error and misunderstanding. Put any required modifications in print.


I did this and he knocked out the sail in week. Cost me maybe 2 or 3 hundred quid over a direct sub to the economy of the Far East. When they are gone they are gone.
 
Daydream believer said:
My doyle sails were rubbish.
I do not believe Jeckels are the sort who can produce a top flight sail. Ok for simple cruising sail but!!
I was surprised how cheap my Hyde sails were by buying october for march delivery
& before anyone suggests kemp the service i had from them was abysmal & quality poor - had to go back for alteration
When i asked why this was taking so long i was told " well we have lots pf customers you will just have to wait your turn" when i replied that i had actually ordered my sails long before the current batch of customers & that i would have thought they should get mine done first they slammed the phone down on me
As for Goacher- it took the rya solicitor to get my money back following a cruising chute measured by them that did not fit in any dimension. I gave up trying to get the genoa right which they also pre measured in Windermere
Click to expand...

OMG... when I read posts like this, I think I must have been really lucky with WestAway (Ivybridge). Both genoa and main were cut perfectly and have been going strong for many years of use (and abuse) by us, Tigger's charterers and sailing schools... Their quote were also the most competitive at the time.
 
Erbas said:
I'll stick my oar in and suggest Crusader

UK made in their own loft, great service and the price was similar to going with Hong Kong Sails
Click to expand...

+1 and ask them when to order in the year and you'll be told when and how large the discount will be as a result. Top quality ongoing advice and support.
 
doug748 said:
Ask your local loft of repute if they make sails, if so, get them to quote.

Save greenhouse gasses, put cash into the local economy and sort out any problems face to face.

Measuring is daft, get your favourite sail to him and say: "make one like that". This cuts out several sources of error and misunderstanding. Put any required modifications in print.

OK, but this is France and to get a sail within a month is unlikely. Took 6 weeks for a storm jib.

But thank you and this is exactly what I shall do, in the meantime, if that doesn't work, Westaway will get the business.


I did this and he knocked out the sail in week. Cost me maybe 2 or 3 hundred quid over a direct sub to the economy of the Far East. When they are gone they are gone.
Click to expand...

I will, altho' a week in France is unlkely, but then 4 will be OK
 
I have Jeckells sails and they are all very good. Saying that I asked for a quote from Jeckells emailing both the company and the southern rep and heard nothing. On the other hand Crusader were very helpful and responded in good time but I have no experience of their service.

A boat i sailed a few weeks back had some sails from Hong Kong and they looked and performed ok
 
I have bought from Honk Kong Sails for my 24' boat no issues 5 years later they still held shape well and where what I asked for...

My recent boat I used a well reputed not tooo cheap (and often recommended on here) local sail loft, as bigger boat bigger mast with pre-bend, sails costs more of a gamble. He came down measured up etc etc etc...

2 years on which will I buy from next time?

Sorry to say for cruising probably Hong Kong sail makers on price or similar....

Unless the boat is complicated to measure up, I would just do it myself and send to HK, I cannot see a difference in quality or cut... In fact I think I preferred the cut from HK sails..

The only advantage was the guy came down to the boat and did all the measuring, when there was a small problem (costing me a weekends sailing) they where very apologetic had some one down to the boat within an hour....

Although as the problem was with one sail slide if I had of bought from HK I would of probably found a solution on the day, instead of waiting to do it "properly"...
 
TiggerToo said:
OMG... when I read posts like this, I think I must have been really lucky with WestAway (Ivybridge). Both genoa and main were cut perfectly and have been going strong for many years of use (and abuse) by us, Tigger's charterers and sailing schools... Their quote were also the most competitive at the time.
Click to expand...

Me too and he had problems with so many different sail makers. I wonder if there is a common denominator?

Pete
 
Decision made based on wallet. Hong Kong sails. 1800GBP including delivery instead of an average of 2900 from UK and 5k+ from local Hyde dealer and 4.5k from my local sail maker.

No brainer really.

Would like to do business locally but not at 3 times the price. So on the basis of comments on this thread that all sails are rubbish, ordering from HK, clearly I have nothing to lose :)
 
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