Fair Wind Sails?

[don habegger]

Has anyone bought sails from FWS (Fair Wind Sails)? Their prices are very reasonable. A well known sail maker I met at Strickly Sail Chicago claims that outfits like FWS probably are using inferior cloth. FWS claims they cost less because they only sell no frills, plain vanilla sails which makes them cheaper to produce. If anyone has knowledge of FWS, I would appreciate an opinion based on fact not speculation.
I am looking to buy an asymmetrical sail and probably will not use it that often. Light winds often dominate our weather on Lake Erie in mid summer and this is when the sail will come in handy.

[islandplanet]

Originally Posted by don habegger

Has anyone bought sails from FWS (Fair Wind Sails)? Their prices are very reasonable. A well known sail maker I met at Strickly Sail Chicago claims that outfits like FWS probably are using inferior cloth. FWS claims they cost less because they only sell no frills, plain vanilla sails which makes them cheaper to produce. If anyone has knowledge of FWS, I would appreciate an opinion based on fact not speculation.
I am looking to buy an asymmetrical sail and probably will not use it that often. Light winds often dominate our weather on Lake Erie in mid summer and this is when the sail will come in handy.

Fair Wind Sails is an offshoot of Island Planet Sails, a company I started in 2004. We launched Fair Wind Sails to serve the customers with smaller boats and simpler needs. We were also tired of seeing people waste money purchasing sails that are not designed specifically for the boat. There are a lot of companies peddling sails "built to standard specifications" and for the most part that's hogwash. With the exception of tightly controlled one designs like the J-24, you encounter a lot of differences in rigs, even with the same model of boat. So those off the shelf sails tend to be compromises.

The cloth is not an inferior cloth and you can read details about it on the website. For customers with needs that aren't met by FWS, there are links on the website to the Island Planet Sails website.

The sails are produced at the same production loft used by Island Planet Sails. There are simply fewer options to choose from and things are more streamlined. FWS sails are appropriate for the kind of casual recreational sailing enjoyed by many sailors.