SailCare

alecs123 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007

Hi everyone... I was wondering if someone has ever sent a sail to SailCare, to repair or to clean it?
I just send my genoa, and so far haven´t received notice from them (the sail arrived yesterday morning).
Also curious about service performance and lead times to have your sail back.
Any imput is welcome
thanks

Freesail99 · #2 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007

I have used sailcare. They are not cheap. My genoa cost me $1500.00 to clean and make some minor repairs. My repair & cleaning took about 3 weeks.

camaraderie · #3 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007

Have used them extensively over the years. Always WELL satisfied with the quality of the work returned to me. Sometimes they can be a little slow but now is probably a good time!

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007

I'd recommend them as well.

FrankLanger · #5 (**permalink**) 08-23-2007

I'm not so sure....I sent them my mainsail on my old boat several years ago. It came back looking clean but very limp, not at all a bit crisp as I had anticipated. When I spoke with them, they acknowledged that sometimes they aren't as thorough, (despite their website claiming that each sail is inspected before leaving the shop), so they agreed to re-do it at their expense. It came back better, but certainly not close to what a new sail would feel like (though it was definitely clean).

When I hoisted the sail, I had lots of wrinkles along the luff, which I was able to solve by soaking the sail and bolt rope several times and maintaining hard halyard tension while it dried.

However, they had also repaired/replaced the cover for the leech line, and made it a bit to tight--ie. the leech no longer had a nice curve, but rather looked almost straight between two of the battens.

All in all, they did address my initial concern, but I still had to live with the poorly cut leech line cover, and had less "crinkle" and shape to the sail than I had expected.

Just my experience....

Frank.

KeelHaulin · #6 (**permalink**) 08-23-2007

Before you send your dacron off to a professional you might consider washing them yourself. We hand washed an old genoa that was purchased at a swap meet with a mild solution of woolite and oxy-clean (non chlorine bleach) and it really made a huge difference. Quite a bit of the crispness came back and it looks much brighter than it did when we bought it. Just a light scrub with a soft automotive pole brush on a big lawn and a couple of rinses on each side to be sure no soap was left.

I know SailCare says that they "restore life" to your sails; but any method of mechanical washing is going to put much more wear on the sailcloth than a light hand wash. The restored crispness is because the fibers have been re-shrunk down to make them tight again; but the fibers get wear in the process also. A good hand washing/drying will also restore a lot of the original stiffness/shape.

JMHO/HTH...

Rockter · #7 (**permalink**) 08-23-2007

1500 smackers to clean a sail????

What does a new one cost?

Freesail99 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-23-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockter

1500 smackers to clean a sail????

What does a new one cost?

I have a hood 165 genoa, which is 483 sq. ft. It is a fabric sail. Maybe that is the reason for the cost?

alecs123 · #9 (**permalink**) 08-23-2007

Thanks to all for your replies...
The problem with this sail was (is) that have some rip-tears that are in need to be solved by an expert.
Also I'm in Mexico and we don't have local sail lofts around.
I'll try to clean myself my main and see the results...
any way, many people recomends SailCare and I wish ther were a little faster for the quotes and the time they will need to repair the sail

camaraderie · #10 (**permalink**) 08-23-2007

Just in case some do not know...the "cleaning" we have been talking about at sailcare is much more than a cleaning. That is also why it is more expensive.
Here is what they do:
Then the sails are carefully cleaned followed by the re-resining process of impregnating the cloth with resins and setting these resins with controlled heat. In addition, a fungicidal agent is added to inhibit mildew growth, another is added for water repellency, and a third agent provides ultraviolet protection. All this is part of the LaMauney Process.
The sails are once again inspected and then packaged for shipping.
Your sail will be clean, free of most wrinkles, and the cloth will have a new stiffness. The existing shape of the sail will be maintained since the LaMauney Process is designed to control the bias stretch of the cloth. The smoothness of the cloth combined with the re-resining will enable your sail to take on its best shape.

That is exactly what I have experienced with their service...not just clean sails but sails that have new life to them. Of course if the sails are blown out, nothing will make them more efficient but they do a lot more than throw them in an industrial washing machine and if you want to get a few more years out of some cruising sails, their process works great IMHO from multiple experiences over a couple of decades.