Sail Inventory?

[tobagosama]

Hey there,

I just recently purchased a 26' International Folkboat, and am relatively new to sailing. The boat came with a few beat up looking full size jibs. I'm wondering what reasonable assortment of sails most people have for their boats as I'm interested in getting at least a few new sails. I sail on the SF bay, and although I'd be interested in doing a little racing potentially, am primarily interested in coastal cruising when I have the experience for it. Aside from the assortment of sails I should be considering for this area, does anyone have recommendations regarding whether I should be thinking of attempting to purchase new or used sails, and if new which sail lofts in the area I should look into?

Thanks for your help!

[WouldaShoulda]

I have one main and one jib on a furler. I don't race and that's enough for me!!

I understand it blows pretty hard out there.

I'd start small and see how comfortable you are with coming about and possible overpower issues before buying anything.

I see no point in having $1,200+ just sitting in the sail locker doing nothing.

[soulesailor]

Congrats on your folkboat...that's a great boat to own! I wouldn't get any sails yet. Since you say you are new to sailing just sail with what you have and eventually you will know exactly what you want and need for your boat. There are a lot of choices (material, size, cut, etc.) and these are often personal decisions based on the type of sailing you do.

[paulk]

Waiting sounds like good advice. What do you mean by "full sized jibs"? Folkboats around here use 150% genoas because of the light wind. I don't think you have that problem much on SFO Bay. If I wanted to cruise around gracefully in pretty heavy air, a main with a couple of reefs would be on my wishlist, along with a good working jib. You might even be able to get a reefable working jib for when it blows like stink. That would help keep the boat balanced and lower the center of effort better than a r/f setup would. Try out what you already have first, and find out what you need to meet your goals before throwing any money around though.

[CalebD]

I would bet good money that your 'old, beat up jibs' are of different sizes. I suggest you unroll them on a lawn somewhere and measure and compare their sizes. Boats with hank on jibs often carry 3 or 4 different sized jibs (or more). For SF Bay I would think you would be more interested in the smaller or working jib size sails as well as the reef points in your main sail (already mentioned by a previous poster).
Enjoy your Folk Boat.

[JomsViking]

Tobagosama,
Congratulations on your IF it's a really great boat, that can take you anywhere.
Take a look at the IF Class Associations website, at: Svenska IF-bÄtförbundet - About the Swedish IF-Boat Association
You can find the class rules and lot of other great information there.

[captainmidnight]

Sails are expensive better to beat up your current ones while you're learning your new boat....