Where can I find second hand sails for sale?

J

jpay

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Hello,

I put in the wanted section I am looking for second hand alacrity (or something that fits) sails but I didn't know with the web now that if there is any dealers in used sails?

I've tried a google search but not had much luck and was wondering if theres anywhere specific?

Screen Shot 2013-09-25 at 19.04.57.jpg

These are the dimensions, how do I transfer these into luff, leech and foot measurements?

Thank You as always!
 
There are others that have been mentioned on here before but at the boat show I learned that C&J Marine in Chichester have a second hand sail service:
http://www.cjmarine.co.uk/
No experience of them (yet) but they've got a business partnership with Kemp who I bought my new sails from, and it was kemp who pointed me in their direction for selling my old ones.
 
These are great, theres got to be something within these that will fit,

Do any of you know how I can work or find out the luff leech and foot for both sails as I'm struggling... I don't wanna guess particularly.
 
jpay said:
Do any of you know how I can work or find out the luff leech and foot for both sails as I'm struggling... I don't wanna guess particularly.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but surely the luff and foot of the mainsail are simply your P and E measurements. If the main had no roach then, from Pythagoras, leech^2 = P^2 + E^2.

For the genoa, you need to use Pythagoras for the luff

luff^2 = I^2 + J^2

The foot can be what you want it to be (within reason), depending on the degree of overlap you want. On a 100% genoa, with a low clew, the foot would be approximately J.
 
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jpay said:
Do any of you know how I can work or find out the luff leech and foot for both sails as I'm struggling... I don't wanna guess particularly.
Click to expand...
I used a tape measure, so I knew the actual lenght of the current sail and went from there.
 
Alacrity 18'6" Mainsail size 18.66ft luff, 8.6ft Foot (Quote: Dayton, Yachts of yesteryear). I dont have the jib size, but take the length of your forestay, less about 12 - 18", for the luff length. Measure the distance between the forestay and the mast at deck level to get an approximate length for the foot. Leech length will be around a foot less than the main luff, so go for 17.6ft. A longer luiff will cause the clew to drop too close to the deck.

Sorry my mind never converted to metric! But most companies quote sizes in ft as well.
 
The trouble with cruiser sailors, especially for something old and small like your Alacrity , is that they only buy new sails when the old ones are completely shot. Racing sailors on the other hand buy new ones as soon as the old ones lose a bit of edge. I would suggest looking through the class association sites of the larger dinghies until you find a class with similar size sails to yours. You should have no problem in finding old ,cheap but serviceable sails for , for instance, a Wayfarer or Flying Fifteen
 
I've had a couple of random ebay headsails whilst saving for new furling gear. They were OKish for going downwind but pretty knackered and didn't really point. Put a shackle round your forestay and hoist a tape measure up on your halyard to find the max luff you can fly. Tie a light line to the shackle to pull it down again cos the tape measures are not strong. Your mast may not necessarily be the original size if someone has chopped a corroded bit off the foot or something.
 
Thanks again guys, really helpful.

I've heard that they have the same sail area as a wayfarer so that might seem like a good place to start.
The measurements are super useful, numbers confuse me!
 
Beware of CJ Marine I bought one of there off the shelf products that didn't fit and it was very much bad luck buddy! Kemp sails are good guys but they are connected to Cj Marine unfortunitly
 
boatman2014 said:
Beware of CJ Marine I bought one of there off the shelf products that didn't fit and it was very much bad luck buddy! Kemp sails are good guys but they are connected to Cj Marine unfortunitly
Click to expand...

CJ Marine have been in business for almost 25 years so they must be doing something right....

They do have something like 1500 second hand sails in their unit in Chichester.

They are making my sprayhood, I went around the factory, saw how they work, interviewed the owner for a feature and felt very reassured by what I saw.
 
bignick said:
For 2nd hand sails its worth looking at
http://www.westawaysails.co.uk/used-secondhand-sails.htm
Click to expand...

I agree 100%, they grade their secondhand sails 1-10 by condition and quality; I haven't used their secondhand sails but I use their new ones and rate them highly, I know people who have gone to them for secondhand sails and been very pleased.

There are some others mentioned here selling secondhand sails I wouldn't trust with a pencil sharpener, and wouldn't know a good sail if it strolled up and kicked them in the wotsits ! :rolleyes:
 
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