Sailmaker/sail loft on Gulf/east coast for Cutter Sailboats

[SailRedemption]

We recently finally put up our sails from our re-rig and flew the yankee and staysail and the yankee appears to not be for our boat. It was at least 5' short on the luff(with a roller furler, not original hank on which would have been even shorter) and it seems to be much too small. It wasn't a good shape and was basically interfering with the staysail when sheeted properly.

That said, we are looking for a sail loft that has good experience with true cutter sailboats. We are thinking of getting all new sails as our main is pretty rough as well. Boat is 47' high aspect rig.

So any good lofts on the Gulf Coast or easy coast that are good? Is Mack Sails experienced in cutter sails?

Regards,
Ronnie

[psk125]

We got a suit of Mack sails and were very happy with them. Jib was especially nice. Won our club champrionship. J/36 is not a cutter though. Call them & see what they say.

[Frankly]

Hunter Riddle at Schurr Sails in Pensacola has made new sails for us and enjoys a good reputation in this area. Don't know about the Cutter business but might give him a call.

[SailRedemption]

Originally Posted by psk125

We got a suit of Mack sails and were very happy with them. Jib was especially nice. Won our club champrionship. J/36 is not a cutter though. Call them & see what they say.

Originally Posted by Frankly

Hunter Riddle at Schurr Sails in Pensacola has made new sails for us and enjoys a good reputation in this area. Don't know about the Cutter business but might give him a call.

Thanks for the contacts and the recommendations. I'll save them and give them a call.

Anyone else?

[Nucdad1]

Originally Posted by SailRedemption

We recently finally put up our sails from our re-rig and flew the yankee and staysail and the yankee appears to not be for our boat. It was at least 5' short on the luff(with a roller furler, not original hank on which would have been even shorter) and it seems to be much too small. It wasn't a good shape and was basically interfering with the staysail when sheeted properly.

That said, we are looking for a sail loft that has good experience with true cutter sailboats. We are thinking of getting all new sails as our main is pretty rough as well. Boat is 47' high aspect rig.

So any good lofts on the Gulf Coast or easy coast that are good? Is Mack Sails experienced in cutter sails?

Regards,
Ronnie

I will say there may not be a more experienced sail loft in south Florida. They are top notch. Mack Sails is the real deal.

[TooCoys]

Here on the Texas gulf coast, I highly recommend Banks Sails in Kemah. I recently had my mainsail patched and it was done in a single day for a very reasonable price.

Banks Sails Gulf Coast - Custom Made Sails for your Boat


I have also been referred to C&C Sails in Houston, but have not had any direct experience with them. However they do come highly recommend by many sailing friends of mine.

Houston Sail Makers

[Jim Cate]

No specific advice for your area, but I think you should realize that ANY real sailmaker can make good sails for a cutter, or any other rig. Ain't nothing magic about a cutter, or a schooner or a ketch... etc.

IMO, a bigger consideration is a sailmaker who builds sails for cruisers rather than 'round the buoy racers. The difference in mindset between performance at all costs and a balance between performance and longevity, ease of usage and reasonable cost is indeed missing from some lofts that we've dealt with over the years.

A final caveat: anecdotal recommendations from fellow sailors should be carefully vetted. Sadly, a lot of sailors don't really know a good sail from a bad one, and when you replace really badly aged sails with new ones, even poor sails give a big (if often temporary) improvement in performance, followed by enthusiastic recommendations for what are pretty ordinary sails!

Jim

[SailRedemption]

Thanks all for the replies, I'll have to give Mack Sails a call and see what they quote along with some of the others.