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tpurkis

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Please help! I am looking for a new main and No3 for a benneteau 36.7 First. The boat is mainly used for club racing and a small amount of crusing.

1) Given that we want durability I was considering Pentex with either single sided or double sided tafata? Only Pentex and Kevlar would be in budget.
2) I have had a number of quotes from the following Quantum, North, Sob stad, Dolphin, UK sails, and Momentum in price order.
3) Sob stad gave a quote in Pentex using a fiber path / fiber led technology which seems to be more associated with Kevlar and carbon.

Any views would be welcome on material, sail maker, and fiber path. Many thanks

Tom
 
Hi tpurkis and welcome!

I'm a bit of a racer myself but there are not many round these parts - this forum is good (mainly cruiser oriented) when it stays boaty and the rude and offensive stay quiet!

You could try the Yachts and Yachting yacht racing forum for racy advice but, apart from a never ending thread by some Projection owners, not much happens.

As for which sailmaker ... maybe you should go for who the fast 36.7 owners use but you may already be one if you need a new main and no 3 on what I guess is a pretty new boat.
 
If you're serious about your racing you need real racing sails.
In the long term I suspect you may be better off buying a standard set of cruising sails for general use and cruising and a good set of racing sails for "best". For "light use" your cruising sails will probably last as long as you have the boat, and by keeping your racing sails for best you'll probably get 4 or 5 seasons out of them.
There's nothing worse than watching an identical boat crawl away from you on the race course knowing that their sails are enabling them to point just that fraction of a degree better.
 
I am using Sanders - Pete made some really excellent dacron sails for us last year and has recently quoted a good price on a pentex or aramid laminate racing jib. We will stick with the loft we know.
 
Have you contacted Hyde? Their sails are made in the Phillipines so should be cheap. That being said I bought my last suit of Kevlar racing sails from Quantum. I found their service to be very good, from the East Coast loft in Levington. They sent someone out to measure the boat first and then they cam down and fitted the sails on delivery. I obtained a quote from Sobstad at the same time but that was very much on a there you go little customer take it or leave it basis. I had to do all the measurement myself and collect them from the Sobstad loft.
Probably the best thing to do is find out what sails the fast Ben 36.7s are using and use that as a benchmark. In an ideal world you would have a set of cruising sails and another for racing, but then we don't all have limitless budgets.
If you put pressure on any sailmaker, especially at this time of year, you should find them all flexible on price.
 
Just had a rather nice North sail made out of there Norlam. To be used for club racing.

Whats the rest of you club boats using ?
 
Various sailmakers seem to be claiming that the difference in longevity between pentex and carbon/kelvqar is not that great any more. Not how I remeber it but do any forumites have any direct experience of using kevlar for a bit of cruising as well as racing and if so how did the seams etc hold up??
I have pentex and I very much doubt that I can trim well enough to get the benefit form kevlar and am therefore quite happy with 'cruising' pentex. I am also a lazy fat pig who hates changing sails all the time!
 
I've not used a kevlar product for cruising, but given that the North product is (slightly unfairly) nicknamed "three days left" and how much they hate being folded or crammed into bags, I seriously doubt that a full on racing sail would stand up to normal cruising abuse.
The cruising laminates are a much better bet for a "fat lazy pig"!
 
It seems like Pentex is the way to go given the budget and use. Where does Spectrum fall in relation to Pentex and carbon?

Does anyone have any views on single or double sided tafata?

Tom
 
Spectra - it a film based material - similar to Kevlar but less expensive (weigh more than kevlar but much less than Pentax).

I have a set of Radial cut Spectra sails on which I'm very happy with. Good compromise as I could not afford Kevlar and did not want the weight of Pentax.

Talk to a siail maker about the materials availabel and your needs there are many more cloths available than you might think.
 
Hi Tom.
Let us know the results of your investigations and why you make whatever decision you make. Both about the sail cloth used and the negotiability of the various sailmakers.
 
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