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Old 30-03-2008, 00:08   #1
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are sails boat specific?

There is a 16 foot sloop (rebel) I am looking at that is complete but without sails. Do the sails have to be specifically made for this boat or can one use generic main and jib?
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Old 30-03-2008, 01:01   #2
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Originally Posted by desertmonk View Post
There is a 16 foot sloop (rebel) I am looking at that is complete but without sails. Do the sails have to be specifically made for this boat or can one use generic main and jib?
You can use sails not specifically made for your boat, but they need to be reasonably close to the size of the original sails. You will probably spend too much money trying to alter sails to fit to be worthwhile if the sails don't fit or have incompatible hardware. An example would be whether the boat needs slugs, or slides, or just pushes the bolt rope into the mast groove. Another thing to figure out is whether the jib is supposed to have a wire luff that takes all the load of holding the mast up, or if it just uses hanks. There are several details like this that you need to know the answer to before buying just any sail.

On another level, if you want performance or want to race, then you want sails cut for that boat. The difference will probably only be really noticable if you are sailing against another boat in class though. A one design racer like this will have had a lot of effort into to finding the right shape to get the boat to perform well. Also if you want to race, the sails must conform to class rules. When you sell the boat, if the sails are not class legal, and if the new owner wants to race, sails that don't conform will have no value. Realistically sails that do conform and are over a year or two old will have drastically reduced value to the racer as well.

This page on the Rebel website gives the sail dimension measurements required to be class legal. Sometimes you can get decent sails that the racers think are worthless. Check to see if they have a swap page on the site.

http://www.rebelsailor.com/constitut....7.15.2002.pdf

John
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Old 30-03-2008, 03:55   #3
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Bacon & Associates (used sails) has some good information:
Sail Terminology: Untitled Document
Measuring Sails: Untitled Document
FAQs: Bacon Purchasing Page

Another couple of quick guides to sail measurement:
Measuring Sails
Atlantic Sail Traders

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