When we bought the boat (1979, Nash 26) in April the previous owner told us that he hadn’t used the main for a couple of years (his wife couldn’t sail due to her health, so they just motored). The sail was the original and he suggested that it would probably need to be replaced within the next couple of years.
Being new to this whole sailing thing I had no clue about what to look for in a sail. I just assumed that Hardy knew what he was about and figured that I would have to
Break
Out
Another
Thousand (or two) for a new sail.
We used the sail and discovered toward the end of the season that we had never had the sail set properly – the dodger frame prevented the end of the boom from coming all the way down so the tension was on the topping lift and not on the leech. We removed the dodger (I didn’t like it anyway as it reduces visibility and makes it more awkward to get onto the deck – and I kept hitting my head on the damned frame!) and were able to set the sail as well as it could be set.
I couldn’t see any loose or missing stitching and there were no obvious signs (rips etc.) that the sail was finished.
There was a bit of a bag in the foot and the material felt ‘soft’ compared to my new
jib.
Anyhow, we took down the sail and dropped it off at a local sail loft. They said they would look at it and let me know if it needed replacing, or, if it could be rejuvenated.
A couple of weeks later we received an invoice.
I was shocked!
The invoice was for the amount of $127.00 CDN!
I thought there was something fishy about this. It was too low for the amount of work that I thought the sail required, and too high if they were just going to tell me to trash the sail.
I stopped in at the loft to find out the ‘rest of the story’.
It turned out that the sail was in much better shape than I was led to believe.
They had checked all the stitching; replaced the tell-tales; replaced the edging on the luff & leech; re-enforced the batten pockets; replaced the elastic – and probably a few other things that I can’t remember.
I asked about the saggy foot and they told me that it was normal. I asked about the softness of the material and they said that the sail could be treated to firm it up but that realistically I wouldn’t notice any performance enhancement.
So I walked out of there satisfied, while, I’m sure, they shook their heads at this silly neophyte that wanted to pay more for their services.
I guess there might be one or two more opportunities for me to spend a dollar or two on the boat.
Denise, Bristol PA, Oday 30
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