Replacement Sails Advice

[KAM]

What's your replacement sail horror story. Have many owners bought a new sail only to find it is worse than the one being replaced. After one bad experience I am now again thinking of replacing the 20+ year old good quality sail on my MAB. Most would consider a sail this old with several repairs to be worn out and although there must now be questions on the integrity of the stitching it still seems (to me) to set well. Is a reasonably priced new cruising sail likely to be an improvement or should I risk the money on a more expensive quality replacement sail. Is it worth a visit to the boat show.

 

[dunedin]

No horror stories, and been pleased with new sails each time. But suggest buy from somebody with local presence who will measur up and help fit / check the sails when they arrive

 

[JumbleDuck]

We haven't had any feedback about Exchange Sails for a while.

 

[Tranona]

worth going to the show as you can talk to several sailmakers in one trip. discounts are usually good.

As to whether it is worth it - of course it is. Lots have happened in the sail world in the last 20 years and the standard and choice of what is available is much greater. You will discover this when you talk to sailmakers and you will get a better fix on what is best for you. Rarely are people disappointed with new sails. It is a very competitive market and any sailmaker who does not have happy customers will not survive.

While there are advantages in using a local sailmaker, if you have a pretty standard boat the big national operators will get enough information from you to produce good sails.

 

[Concerto]

Check the quality of the sail cloth. If you cruise then a Dacron or preferably a Vectran should be your choice. Do check the weave count as this can vary with lower counts having filler added to the fabric (not very good for long life).

Check where the cutting and assembly is made. Many sails start life in the Far East and may be completed there. This does not allow for any alterations if wrongly cut for your boat.

Final finishing is most likely in the UK. However you can get sails made completely in the UK.

Basically you will get what you pay for. Talk to a lot of sailmakers to see what they are saying would be best for you and decide if your budget will stretch to what is recommended from your prefered sailmaker.

Read this article for more information on sail cloth and cuts.
http://www.kempsails.com/yacht-sails/sail-fabric.html

 

[Serin]

No horror stories, and been pleased with new sails each time. But suggest buy from somebody with local presence who will measur up and help fit / check the sails when they arrive

+ 1 on both counts. Complete new set of sails from Jeckells some years ago. Chris Jeckell advised us at the Boat Show came and measured up. We also visited their loft in Norfolk and talked with the loft manager there. Very interesting. The improvement exceeded all our expectations.

 

[[70521]]

No horror stories, Find a local sailmaker with a good reputation take time to get to know the loft and what they do. Sit down with several cups of steaming hot coffee and discuss what you want to do with your boat in the next 10 years. Make sure they come to measure up the boat.

 

[Javelin]

Agree with most of the above.
A couple of other options to consider though.

Your local yard may well have negotiated a trade deal with a sailmaker so it might be worth having a chat with them.
If you're luck they might extend the discount to you.
For example if we were doing any fitting out work, antifouling, annodes, launching etc then as sailmaking is not our core activity but we have a deal then you could get 15 to 20% off the cost of the sails.

You do get what you pay for.
So when inquiring ensure you really nail down the sail specification so you can compare like with like.
This much harder to do than it sounds as many lofts refer to different cloths in a variety of different ways and it takes an infuriating amount of time to drill down.
Some cheaper sailmakers lever their reduction by using lighter and cheaper cloth which wont last as long.
I feel that they work on the basis that most users don't sail anywhere near as much as they think they will and coupled to that, most folk buy on price.

Cut also is a factor.
Cross cut is the cheapest and essentially the only cut suitable for Dacron due to the bias of the material.
North produce their own dacron variant which does allow the more stable radial cut but otherwise you're then into cruising lamiates.

If I get an inquiry from a discerning customer I will always take the safe route and go with North.
99 times in 100 the sails will be spot on and I won't have to deal with any issues.
Yes they are maybe 10% to 15% more expensive but with discount it works out about the same.

If no deal is available then I'd focus on a finding a local sailmaker.
The smaller ones will not be vat registered which will save a bunch straight away and many of these guys will make a very good suit for you.
Its a risk though as if the loft is busy the lead time can be quite long.
If he's not busy I'd want to talk to other folk who have used his sails.

Early last year I had to buy 13 sets of sails for various cruising yachts and went through a process of obtaining quotes with, I think it was initially 10 different sailmakers.
In general though, if listed in terms of cost, there were no real surprises.
Once we factored in discounts, delivery and our confidence/experience we went with North with Kemp a close 2nd.

I also bought new sails for my boat last year and decided to go for the radial cut North sails and am very happy with them and compared to the Hydes that they were replacing they were chalk and cheese.

 

[pcatterall]

What's your replacement sail horror story. Have many owners bought a new sail only to find it is worse than the one being replaced. After one bad experience I am now again thinking of replacing the 20+ year old good quality sail on my MAB. Most would consider a sail this old with several repairs to be worn out and although there must now be questions on the integrity of the stitching it still seems (to me) to set well. Is a reasonably priced new cruising sail likely to be an improvement or should I risk the money on a more expensive quality replacement sail. Is it worth a visit to the boat show.

Your question seems to concern the pros and cons of a new 'cruising sail' against something more exotic?
Much of the advice so far still stands but when talking to sail makers your requirements..... blue water, Uk or elsewhere cruising, bit of racing etc will be important info for the sailmaker.
A modern cruising sail is still probably more technically advanced than one from 20 years ago. Assuming your old sail to have been pretty well used over the last 20 years then changing it will probably improve performance.

 

[johnalison]

The only horror story I have is of sending a perfectly good two yr old sail off to a sailmaker for winter cleaning, only to have the stuffing washed out of it. I would like to think that modern Dacron cloth is less susceptible.

 

[richardbrennan]

I think the answer to the first part of your question is an unqualified yes, you will certainly notice a difference. The fall of in the performance of sails is so gradual that you tend not to notice it. As far as where to look is concerned; I would very much agree with Javelin's comments. I replaced my main a couple of years ago with one from Kemp and have been delighted with it. This year I have replaced the genoa and have gone for a radial cut sail from North in their low stretch dacron, this replaces a cruising laminate from them which has also performed well.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Mersea based, and used Gowens, based locally. Measurement of the boat resulted in a super main, now 7 years old, and still performing great. Genny is a year older and probably has 2-3 years left before I think about changing