New Sail delivered .5m short in Luff

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hquinn

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Series of events:

February 2005 - ordered new fully battened mainsail for dehler 34 (paid 50% deposit) - gave old main to sailmaker as several different rigg sizes for our yacht, discussed merits on number of battens, current has 4, agreed new sail would have 5 - promised delivery early April. (several broken promises but sail eventually arrived having been manufactured in South Africa)
When we put the new main on it was half a metre short on the luff and had 2 rows of reinforced reefing points unlike the pattern supplied, back to sailmaker with sail who proposed he would repair the sail and we agreed that he was entitled to do this (as we had not taken ownership of it) and then we would discuss whether we would accept the sail at a price we could agree.
The sail has had half a metre added to the top and they want full payment. This also means that the battens are not equally spaced.

We would appreciate any opinions or any expert advice.

Thanks in advance.
 
Did you contract for a sail with unevenly spaced battens and a bit stitched on to the top?

No? Makem do it again or money back and go elsewhere.
 
An old sail can be stretched & distorted.

Using it as a template can lead to an incorrectly sized sail.

A good sail maker would visit the boat to measure the boom/mast etc to ensure a 'good fit'.
 
Agree with GeoffW. I wouldn't have an expensive sail made without at least one visit from sailmaker to the boat to check measurements. Any reason why this wasn't done? Sorry, just re-read and see that sail was made in seet efrika. If you had it made via a UK agent, why didn't he come to measure?

Expensive lesson, hope it gets sorted. As a compromise, could you get them to add panels above and below battens? Not pretty, but probably best you'll get.
 
I don't feel it's acceptable to have that type of outcome and would expect them to provide me with a sail that fits my boat, after all, they're the sailmakers and you've commissioned them as professionals to give you a solution which you're paying a significant amount of money for. What material is the sail made of and are they allowing for a lot of stretch? Will an extra 0.5m take the head to the halyard sheave and then go baggy as the luff stretches?

Regards

Alex
 
I'ld suggest you write and tell him you are not accepting it and ask him what he proposes to do about it. If you still have it in your possession don't let him have it back until a course of action is agreed or he has returned your deposit! Trouble is it may take sometime to sort out and the season is starting.

Why not name names?
 
[ QUOTE ]
sailmaker proposed he would repair the sail and we agreed that he was entitled to do this (as we had not taken ownership of it) and then we would discuss whether we would accept the sail at a price we could agree.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure that you have reported this bit of what was agreed with them absolutely objectively? ie. you said to him: "you are entitled to repair the sail because we have not taken ownership of it. Then we will discuss whether we will accept it...". If so the conversation sounds very odd to me. Who talks about "ownership of sails" or being "entitled to repair"? Are you sure it wasn't: "OK, take the sail back and adjust it, and then we'll see what discount you should give us"?

If it was the latter, then if you were in effect saying you'd take the sail if they sorted it out, but they should knock the price down a bit.

In any case, they should offer you a discount. But unless you have some kind of evidence that the exchange was exactly as you reported, they would probably strictly speaking be within their rights to insist you took the sail - most people would conclude that you didn't reject the sail but encouraged them to spend further effort repairing it. Whether they should want to insist you take it from the point of view of customer care and satisfaction is another matter.

Another relevant fact is - where did they get the wrong measurements from? eg. were these measurements that you gave them?
 
Return it. No way do you accept modifications after you gave them a pattern to work from. Like they can't use a tape measure? A couple of inches I could live with but .5 mtr? That's beyond a "mistake"
 
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