New sails: UK Halsey vs. Neil Pryde

[janders]

Hey all, we were at the Seattle Boat Show a couple weeks ago and Christy happened to stop by some sailmaker booths to get quotes on new sails. We were going to flog ours for a couple more years because we didn't really want to throw down $10K+ for a new suit of sails.

However, we got two really great quotes from UK Halsey and Neil Pryde lofts here locally that are making us think we need to buy sails before sailmakers go get a bailout of their own. Both lofts are both close enough to each other in price that we'd just as soon evaluate the quotes on merit and reputation. Both quotes were for for heavy Dacron cruising sails with UV protection and foam luff shape control. The fabric weights were about the same.

Our intention with these sails is to cruise. We want a high degree of reliability and longevity. We are not squeeking out 1/10th's of a knot out of our boat. We don't want to be slow, but we'd also rather not buy new sails for another 10 years.

Can anyone compare and contrast these two lofts? We've asked around the docks and find that someone has experience with one of these lofts and it usually seems to be good experience. But we haven't been able to gather enough info to pull the trigger on one vs. the other.

Cheers!

Jason

[CAELESTIS]

Contact Sean Lidgard directly. The NZ dollar is $.52.

Lidgard Sails - world class sail design, technology and production through our sail lofts internationally.

[SV Someday Came]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

Contact Sean Lidgard directly. The NZ dollar is $.52.

Lidgard Sails - world class sail design, technology and production through our sail lofts internationally.

I talked to someone in their Seattle office. He was more interested in sending me local to SD than in selling me sails. Well.... not exactly true as he did say that he "would be *happy* to sell me new sails but ..." that for the sailing I would be doing (whatever that was be since he never asked), it would be best if I looked locally.

So while the NZ dollar might be .52 I would rate the Seattle Office's 30 something's willingness to engage in the most rudimentary of a helpful conversation about -.01


Michael

[Evan]

What fabrics EXACTLY did they quote? Was it "8 oz dacron" or something a little more specific? In my opinion if you don't consider the high modulus dacrons you are wasting a lot of performance for very little extra money.

[Bash]

I've had six sails made by UK over the years. The ones made in the Sweden loft were pretty impressive, even though they "forgot" to make one of the mains out of the material I'd specified. (To their credit, they discounted me $1,000 on that sail.) The ones made in the Hong Kong loft were, at best, a disappointment.

[s/v Jedi]

Give Elvstrom-Sobstad a call for a quote too. Prices are better in the off-season.

Also, for sails that last longer, both durability of the material and holding their shape are factors. Baggy sails don't work well. Just for fun, ask quotes for tri-radial cut sails using Hydranet material. That is a woven dacron reinforced with spectra. These sails give you more drive, less heel, keep shape and last longer, but cost more. Consider a high aspect jib and somewhat bigger roach mainsail as that's where this material and construction will make a difference.

ciao!
Nick.

[Drumroll30]

I think the term "lofts" are used a little loosely, they're really sales/repair outlets. I have a Neil Pryde "performance cruise" 140% furling genoa made of CL-60 laminate, I'm fairly happy with it. Though the "loft" is in Montreal, the sail was made in Asia. Last year I purchased a new dacron racing main from Quantum, it was made in Canada.

[S/V New Sensation]

We have Neil Pride sails and are very happy with them. I've bought from other lofts in the past and have never gotten a bad sail but I like Scott and feel he gives good service before and after the sale, as opposed to just being a sales man. We had our sails quoted from several fabrics and also chose the performance cruise line. The sails are well made and have nice features (such as leach lines led to the tack where they're easy to reach). When we were looking UK was also nice to deal with (some of the other lofts just struck me as not very interested in cruising sails, they struck me as wanting the racer who will be buying new all the time) and everyone I've known that owned them was happy with their quality. I don't think you'll go wrong with either but I was very happy with Scott Rush and Neil Pride sails.