Used Mainsails

[Starlite]

It was destined to happen -- the old mainsail on my 30+ year old boat finally blew out. As I don''t want to spend $1K on a boat that''s valued at less than $4K, I''m shopping for a used one.

If you have had any experiences with the used sail market, I''d like to hear what you have to say. Recommendations, places to avoid, things to watch out for, I''m sure that there are a number of folks who would like to read about it...

[Jeff_H]

I have had reasonably good luck buying and selling used sails through Bacon''s in Annapolis. Bacon''s tends to get a lot of reasonably new sails from race boats. These sails have often lost some of thier shape but are half way decent sails to use on a cruiser. I have bought sails to use for winter ''messing about'' which, with the greater density air, can be really destructive to your good sails.

On the flip side, I have bought brand new sails, with boat show pricing and prepayment discounts quite cheaply from name lofts and they have been surprisingly close to some of the prices that I have seen for nearly new used sails or no-name lofts.

Jeff

[JohnDrake]

Bacon''s has a great selection of sails and many are in very good shape. You can search their online listing...very nice feature.

One note: many of the used sails you will get at a good price will need some work. That CAN be as expensive as the sail. Chose your sail maker carefully and discuss and agree to price in advance. Don''t bother to get it washed... that is very expensive and of questionable value (do it yourself).

Hope this helps.

[Starlite]

Thanks to everyone who''s replied (both here, and by other methods). After doing a bunch of research, I did purchase a nearly new, fully battened mainsail from Bacon ($395). Many thanks go to Gavin at Bacon, who was a great help.