Cost of sails

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Hmm ... Used sails from an Oyster or a ... (dare I say it?) a Hunter?

Tough call?

I would not make assumption about Oyster. My own experience with three different models is quite different ...

b.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I would not make assumption about Oyster. My own experience with three different models is quite different ...

b.

Yes sir, apologies to all. I was trying to get Don Lucas going. I've had good luck with used sails over the years.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Yes sir, apologies to all. I was trying to get Don Lucas going.

I knew that and believe the person you should apologize to is me, as well as all the other owners you went out of your way to "get going"!

[barnakiel]

;-)

To me: Oyster or Setter, get the boat ex sails then get good sails from a trusted loft.

That is if any serious sailing is planned.

b.

[ohdrinkboy]

check out rollly tasker sails. used them before and had good experiences at a reasonable price.

no interest other than satisfied customer.

[zeehag]

seems to me that if one is going to buy a used sail for cruising backup and you can buy a decent sail for 100-XXXX dollars, and a new one is 10k usd, i would go for the used one. so what if it only lasts 5 years--wasnt expensive, will work for a while-- save up m0re money for better ones later.. what works works--i prefer 200 usd sail to a 10k usd sail.
just found a used perfectly good triple stitched mizzensail for 200 dollars us. damn good deal, even if isnt cut quite right..LOL who is racing-- is a mizzen, after all.....

now, for racing???? shoot the moon and go for broke--a win is a win. but for me,, sad to say--i care about the bottom line. i look for quality for little money.


even blue tarps are good sails, if you piece em together right--will get ye to port if necessary.(i wouldnt go heavy weather with that, but it will get ye back in if your sails blow out)

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by zeehag

SNIP

even blue tarps are good sails, if you piece em together right--will get ye to port if necessary.(i wouldnt go heavy weather with that, but it will get ye back in if your sails blow out)

I can still remember my first sail boat when I was 10 and my brother was 8. It was a small 8 ft row boat we took a bed sheet and a couple of 1X2 and jury rigged something to sail down wind in the canal behind our house house. We would then lower the rig, row back up wind and sail down wind again.

As zee points out for a couple of hundred dollars it is hard to go wrong, if worst comes to worst you can make a boom tent out of the sail. As with most things going from say 80% to 95% drives up the costs a lot. Of course going from 95% to 99% is only for guys like Larry Ellison.

Another thing to consider is that unless you are a first rate sailor how well a sail is cut may be less important than how well you can trim sails. I also hear a lot about blown out sails. The thing is a blown out sail may well be as good or almost as good in light airs which is where lots of folks sail most. It is only when the wind starts howling that a blown out sail is a problem, and you may well be reefing or completely lowering sails at that point.

I am not saying there is no place for first rate sails, and my former high school bud who now works for Doyle would have a some what different analysis. But for most folks a set of used sails is not the limiting factor in sailing. I know for guys like me sailing skills are the biggest limiting factor.

[Bluewaters2812]

[QUOTE=tomfl;1066865]I can still remember my first sail boat when I was 10 and my brother was 8. It was a small 8 ft row boat we took a bed sheet and a couple of 1X2 and jury rigged something to sail down wind in the canal behind our house house. We would then lower the rig, row back up wind and sail down wind again.

As zee points out for a couple of hundred dollars it is hard to go wrong,

...

Another thing to consider is that unless you are a first rate sailor how well a sail is cut may be less important than how well you can trim sails. I also hear a lot about blown out sails. The thing is a blown out sail may well be as good or almost as good in light airs which is where lots of folks sail most. It is only when the wind starts howling that a blown out sail is a problem, and you may well be reefing or completely lowering sails at that point.

I have to agree on all this because my view is that the real problem comes when you have really big blows that old UV damaged/stretched sails etc will shred more readily. I don't ever want to hammer my rigging and be heeling over radically, placing everything under stress. I will from time to time enjoy a nice fast sail but never to the point that I feel my entire rig is pushed to near max. I guess what that means for us is that if everything else is nearly as we want it and the sails are perhaps nearing replacement time, we shouldn't worry about replacing them right away but wait and see how long they will last us and probably find we get many more years out of them.

[Khagan1227]

Originally Posted by Bluewaters2812

Thanks, any idea what the current "trend" is as far as reefing goes (2 or 3 points)? I guess having more reefing points you have more options in a big blow but the costs increase a bit?

I'm a fan of more reef points = better. They are much more in cost and if you never use them fine.

I've never thought, "I wish I had less reef points on my main", but I sure have wish the other way.

[Celestialsailor]

I find little wrong with buying a good used sail, if you know what to look at. Last year bought a cruising chute in like new condition for 1/4 the price of new.
In regards to the OP. I bough a mainsail for my Tartan Blackwatch 37 back in 98. It came from Hood on the east-coast. They have their own looms for making the material and do their own labor. No offshore influences. The current owner reported last year that the sail was in great condition.

[zeehag]

even my20 yr old baggy and loose mizzen and shapeless reefed 100 percenter with bad sacrificial, didnt blow out in 60+ kt breezes off cabo san lucas--we had a tear in mizzen and we were reefed at first reef point----we pulled 8.4 knots boat speed with baggy worn sails ....
i think the extra .4 kt was because there were bloomers formed by the sacrificial strip--

ANYONE can sail with brand new perfect fit north sails triple stitched sails......

[Captain Jeffry]

[QUOTE=zeehag;1066926]even my20 yr old baggy and loose mizzen and shapeless reefed 100 percenter with bad sacrificial, didnt blow out in 60+ kt breezes off cabo san lucas--we had a tear in mizzen and we were reefed at first reef point----we pulled 8.4 knots boat speed with baggy worn sails ....
i think the extra .4 kt was because there were bloomers formed by the sacrificial strip--

ANYONE can sail with brand new perfect fit north sails triple stitched sails...

Sweet as~

[barnakiel]

I believe to some, the quality of the sail (coming mostly from quality of materials and quality of workmanship) counts.

A good sail will outlast a bad one by a couple of years perhaps. If you amortize the initial purchase price over the years of use, you can find the more expensive sail is the cheaper one.

b.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

I'm a fan of more reef points = better. They are much more in cost and if you never use them fine.

I've never thought, "I wish I had less reef points on my main", but I sure have wish the other way.

I can believe that and I agree that having that extra reefing option will definitely help a lot in a blow.

[tomfl]

OK guys no one is bashing lofts like Doyle (have to say that because my bud works there), North (sailed them forever), or any other top notch sail maker. No one is saying it is possible to get enough use out of a brand new good quality sail to make it a better deal that a low quality brand new sail.

The point is that for a lot of folks spending some time on the internet searching the sites that resell used sails can result in a deal no new sail can come close to matching. Especially for things like light air head sails the deals can be spectacular. These used sails can also be recut and resewed to make them an even better fit for your boat.

As zee points out for her situation a $US200 sail will provide lots of use for a cost that can not be beat. On the other hand don't expect to be taking line honors unless you were going to do it anyway with used sails.

If the question is a new set of sails or a used set of sails and more coin of the realm in the cruising kitty I know what my answer would be.

YMMV