How on earth to choose a sailmaker on the south coast...

Five quotes, all really lovely people, but wildly varying prices, even with the same weight/make. Bewildering. Thoughts?

Mates? Yacht Club? Even chatting to strangers on their boat with the Sailmakers sails on. Just ask around. Nothing like a personal recommendation. Wish I had that problem "up North"!
 
Five quotes, all really lovely people, but wildly varying prices, even with the same weight/make. Bewildering. Thoughts?

Compare like with like, cut with cut, standard of finish with standard of finish place of manufacture with place of manufacture

Who sails do/did you like?

Personally I liked Crusader's sails so I went with them. Good quality, British made, great people to deal with, very knowledgable and excellent customer service. No regrets at all
 
Go local and having seen their work/delivery record/ friends word, as said.

I went with the guys who built my last sails which are still, imo, very good but I wanted a spare mainsail, with only one full length batten at the top, better for downwind cruising and far easier to store all the bits on board and rig quickly if I do something stupid to the existing f/batten one... With a few other details, I felt that Arun 'got it' right away and everything they said added useful advice. Good price too, I thought, without trying to screw anyone into the ground!
 
With a few other details, I felt that Arun 'got it' right away and everything they said added useful advice. Good price too, I thought, without trying to screw anyone into the ground!

Agreed...

I also went with Arun for my new jib, purely because they'd made the mainsail - very happy with the product, and a again - nice people...
 
Try North Sails

Five quotes, all really lovely people, but wildly varying prices, even with the same weight/make. Bewildering. Thoughts?

Not the cheapest but boy do they look good .. Main with full length batterns and a jib with vertical batterns .. Also a foam luff .. Set a treat well worth the extra .. Main and Jib have smaller panels to give them their shape ... :) :) :) :D :D

HERE
 
Another vote for Arun

My Arun genoa jib is now quite old but still sets well, even when furled, and it has no foam insert.

I'd buy from them again.
 
Sanders Sails In Lymington. They often replace old HR yachts with new sails. We had ours replaced 5 years ago and shipped out to Palma. They don't heavily advertise because they don't need too! I think that speaks volumes for the product.
 
Arun made the first main and furling genoa (cross cut dacron) on my boat. The main was the biggest piece of sh*te ever, the cut was terrible. The genoa on the other hand is quite good and still used today, which goes to show that a single maker can be both good and bad even at the same moment with the same technology.
I replaced the main with a Sobstad Genesis Platinum which works very well.
 
Just go to Sanders.
Seconded.

I went to Arun for a Genoa - it was pretty poor and never set well even when new. After a couple of seasons it was worse than the 20 yr old one it replaced.

I also went to them for a stackpack - unfortunately whatever thread they used appears not to have been UV resistant so I have had to hand sew most of it over the years.

However they have been recommended by people who ought to know - so perhaps my experience was unusual.

I now use Sanders - very helpful and often chosen by the people who race at the front of older fleets
 
Top