[jhgreen]

Hello

I have to purhcase my First new Sail. I bought my boat 3 years ago. I have had my curent Genoa cleaned every year since I bought the boat but, I don't think I can prolong the the sail much longer. I currently have a Genoa 135 for a Pearson 10m. I am looking for a good sail for crusing and one that can weather weekly club racing. until I am comforatlbe sailing and racing then I will look to upgrade either my sails, boat or both.
I have asked for quotes from many sail makers but I am not sure what I should be looking, I have been quoted many materials and prices range from 3000 so far 6000 for all I know is that I want a 150 for my Roller Furling system.

Thank You
Jeremy
Pearson 10m

 

[aelkin]

Hi Jeremy;
I've been in your situation - not sure how long you're going to have the boat, and not sure exactly what you're going to do with it...(race, cruise, day-sail, or some combination)

A lot depends on what you want to achieve, and how much you're willing to spend to do it.

A loft like North, Quantum, or Doyle will charge premium dollars, and provide you with a premium sail, dialed in for whatever your focus point is. That's likely the $6K option.

Places like Precision Sails (there are entire threads devoted to this loft, BTW - look around for them), and other on-line lofts will provide a decent sail, cut for all-purpose use, of moderate material, for a good price. $3000 option.

you hear horror stories from both types of loft - and it seems hit-and-miss for both whether they stand by their mistakes.

You need to decide what you're most comfortable with, and then give as much info as you can to the chosen loft, and trust them to choose the right material and cut.

Andy

 

[tommays]

IMHP good quality Dacron and perhaps some of the hybrids

I race with many high tech fabrics and tacking is hard on the films or various ways they hold the thing together

If you have not had a 150 #1 you have to be sure the furler will in fact furl it as the amount of line the drum can hold may not be enough

My 150 is also much more work to tack for what in many cases is a marginal performance gain

 

[Stumble]

Jeremy,

For local club racing for a new sailor I would recommend staying at the cheap end of things. So a decent quality Dacron crosscut sail. But I will go thru some options...

Laminates - much lighter, much stronger, a lot more expensive, won't last as long
Tri-cut radial Dacron - stronger, lasts longer, almost the same price as a laminate. Primarily used for boats who race one design and are restricted by rule from using laminates. Or cruisers who want max performance.

Think of it this way....

All sails come out of the box with the perfect sail shape...
Cross cuts loose the most sail shape the fastest, and by 2-3 years old won't be competitive
Tri-radials loose shape slower, but at a significant price premium. Figure 4-5 years till junk
Laminates never change shape, but the laminate is UV damaged after a year.


At the early years of a boats racing career there are a lot of places to spend money to make it go faster, sails are just one place. Unless you have the budget to drop more than the boat is worth on performance upgrades a crosscut is fine, and you get to save money for other things. Like a new bottom, folding prop, deck hardware, ect... All of which can help as much as a new sail but will be with you for longer.

 

[jhgreen]

Thank You for the Advice It has given me a good idea of what I want and I will need to check my Furling as well I never thought of that issue.

Jeremy

 

[CalebD]

Have you checked prices on in stock sails at sailwarehouse.com (Rolly Tasker)?

 

[Stumble]

Making a furler roll up a larger sail is child's play. They will wind forever, you just have to have a long enough furling line to do so.

If the drum gets full of line while you still have sail out then your furling line is to large. We go with a 1/8" dyneema cord for the first 35' spliced end for end spliced into sta-set for a larger hand on the last few feet. Upside is it's cheaper than a solid sta-set, downside you have to learn to do a pretty easy splice.

 

[Alex W]

Stumble mentioned a few types of sails, but didn't mention a cruising laminate. I seem to do similar sailing to you and I'm trying a cruising laminate for my new main.

They aren't as light as a true laminate string sail and don't have as completely custom/optimized load path of the strings. There is UV protection on the outside (dacron tafetta, plus an optional UV layer below for high UV areas) that a lighter laminate sail would not have.

The price ended up being about the same for me as having the same loft make a high quality dacron sail using high end cloth (not Marblehead, but a variation for high aspect sails).

I'm sick of dacron sails having bad shape and good cloth. I wanted a sail that would maintain good shape throughout it's lifetime and last longer than a dacron sail would hold good shape for. Multiple lofts pointed me in this direction, so that is what I'm trying. Ask me in 10 years how well it's worked out.

This is a PDF about what I'm having made:
http://www.china-sail-factory.com/Docs/CSFBook/adjust05-Custom Axis Laminate Sails.pdf

The load fibers in my sail are vectran. I'm getting the cruising version with 75gsm tafetta. On my size sail the lighter tafetta didn't save enough weight (650 grams, or about 1.5 lbs) to justify the cost and reduced UV protection.

Everyone who makes a "CAL Custom Axis Laminate" sail is getting it done by China Sail Factory. In my limited digging it looks like Ullman and CSF came up with the design. CSF contracts this out to many "lofts".

I should have my sail in a couple of months and can comment on the full ordering process and how the sail appears to be performing at that point. I'm excited about it, the other sails that I've bought have always been dacron sails.

 

[killarney_sailor]

Something else to think about. Depending on your boat and the conditions where you sail, a 150 genoa may be pretty large which means you either have to partially furl a lot (not good for shape, especially for racing) or you have to change sails often.

 

[christian.hess]

130 baby best overall really

 

[Alex W]

He is racing. A 150 makes sense there. I assume he'll also have a 110 or working jib for heavier weather sailing and lighthanded cruising.

 

[Stumble]

Alex,

I specifically didn't mention them, since I have seen very mixed reviews on them so far. It is a technology that is coming, but is just don't feel comfortable recommending it yet.

The longest lasting sail I know of that is still in racing shape is the North 3DI carbon dyneema sails. One of the racing J-35's here in New Orleans bought a main from this stuff in 2007 and it is still going strong. But wow was it expensive. About triple the price of a 3DL.

It's used the same UV tech as the cruising laminates, so there is real promise to them, but it is still an unknown.


Frankly a new owner, new boat, club racing... I would go with cross cut Dacron, use it for three years and then decide if you want to go with high end racing sails. A laminate cruiser, carbon, ect... If he ends up not liking racing, then he will have sunk a lot of money into sails that have no residual value.

 

[JimsCAL]

For cruising with occasional club racing, a standard Dacron sail is just fine. A roller furling 135 for your boat should be around $2000 from one of the online lofts like Rolly Tasker (National Sail Supply or Sailwarehouse), JSI, FXSails, etc. Even less if your sail is hanked on.

 

[CorvetteGuy]

Ordered a 155 for my 31' c&c from Doyle sails with a boat show price of $1650. Canadian. made with the new callenge sail cloth. good price hope the quality is there too.