Help me pick a new mainsail

[ohdrinkboy]

I've only sailed 3 new sets of sails. They were Rolly Tasker, Kappa and Quantum. I listed both in the order of price and quality. You get what you pay for....maybe. Were the Quantum's worth 2X the Rolly Tasker's? On the race course yes, but day sailing no.

Think about how you will use them and let that guide you as well. BTW - have won races with all three brands.

[Mystktravler]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

My boat is a 1980 Catalina 30 standard rig. Old. Beat-up. Cheap.



The current main is the original sail. Yup, a 35 year old sail. And yup, it has all the shape of a hefty bag. I've had the boat to hull speed plenty with it, but it's old and I'd like to point a bit higher. Time for a new one.



Typical use is daysails or 30-80nm passages. (i.e. going to Catalina/ch islands) Winds are almost always light, 5-15 knots or so. I don't need top performance, and I really want to pinch pennies where I can.



Some quotes from local lofts were pretty scary.



So looking around I find:



1. North Direct. 6oz NorDac. 2 full/2 partial. ~$1450

2. Doyle (from sailboatowners.com) 6-7 oz. Dacron. 2 full/2 partial. ~$1500

3. RollyTasker (from National Sail) 7.3oz dacron, 2 full/2 partial. ~$1400

4. North Direct. 7 oz dacron, all partial. ~$1300

5. RollyTasker - all partial. ~1300



All are single reef. I don't go out in stuff that needs two.



I need to find out if they include luff slides (The RT does)



Anybody have any opinions on what would be the best bet? Should I look at the 2 full battens (current sail has partials). Do I care about 6oz vs 7oz cloth since I predominately sail in lighter air?



I've looked around a bit for a used one - minnies didn't have anything - and really I'd like something new.

I own a Catalina 30...I recommend North Direct 7 oz Dacron...good sail,
yes on slides...call and talk to them, great source.




Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Pete7]

I would start with looking at the choice of materials. Nordac isn't a high end quality fabric so you could choose better for probably the same price.

Whilst this link is for a UK loft the fabrics are available world wide:

Sails, Sailmaking, Sailmakers, Lymington, South Coast, Hampshire, Sanders, Saunders, Yacht, marine upholstery, dinghies, quality, boat, design, standard

We ended up with a Silver quality fabric Dimension Polyant C-Breeze and after two years are very happy with it.

[Paul Mazza]

I've been sailing in No.Calif for over 50 years and have bought many new sails. All from local lofts, Pineapple and Dewitt. All excellent sails and excellent service. Because we're on a tight pre-cruise budget I recently bought my first mail order sail for our Endeavour 37. If you're comfortable with doing your own measurements and want an American made sail, I'd consider Mack Sails (especially if their winter discounts are in place). I opted for a full batten sail, but I'd consider two full on top and partials below for your Catalina. Again, your measurements need to be accurate, and you absolutely don't want it to be too big. A local loft will deal with any fit issues, but mailing it back for a re-cut, or paying a local to trim it eliminates the savings. Good luck.

[toddedger]

I've got to add a second on Mac sails. Very high quality for price equals value and thats what you will get from Mack. Sailing an older boat I want a slightly different shape then whats current on newer bendier rigs. Mack listened and gave me exactly what I wanted, not just what some young guy thought I needed.

[jeepbluetj]

Thanks for all the info. I ended up with a Rolly Tasker because the general consensus was they were quality, and it was an amazing price (was an in-stock sail, didn't have to come from Thailand)

Full battens, 2 reefs. 7oz cloth. Much less $ than anything else I was looking at.

I'd love to report on if it's any good or not, but I've had the dang boom off for a week and a half to repaint it. But I expect to sail it in a week or so and will let y'all know if the sail is any good.

[JPA Cate]

jeepbluetj,

Good on ya. We'll await hearing back. Don't be surprised if it has made a huge improvement. :-D

[autumnbreeze27]

Just an FYI, I took the boom off our catalina 34 and had it bead blasted and powder coated for $250. The place is in OC. PM me if you want the contact info.

[a64pilot]

I suggest Alodine and powdercoat over paint

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

My boat is a 1980 Catalina 30 standard rig. Old. Beat-up. Cheap.

The current main is the original sail. Yup, a 35 year old sail. And yup, it has all the shape of a hefty bag. I've had the boat to hull speed plenty with it, but it's old and I'd like to point a bit higher. Time for a new one.

Typical use is daysails or 30-80nm passages. (i.e. going to Catalina/ch islands) Winds are almost always light, 5-15 knots or so. I don't need top performance, and I really want to pinch pennies where I can.

Some quotes from local lofts were pretty scary.

So looking around I find:

1. North Direct. 6oz NorDac. 2 full/2 partial. ~$1450
2. Doyle (from sailboatowners.com) 6-7 oz. Dacron. 2 full/2 partial. ~$1500
3. RollyTasker (from National Sail) 7.3oz dacron, 2 full/2 partial. ~$1400
4. North Direct. 7 oz dacron, all partial. ~$1300
5. RollyTasker - all partial. ~1300

All are single reef. I don't go out in stuff that needs two.

I need to find out if they include luff slides (The RT does)

Anybody have any opinions on what would be the best bet? Should I look at the 2 full battens (current sail has partials). Do I care about 6oz vs 7oz cloth since I predominately sail in lighter air?

I've looked around a bit for a used one - minnies didn't have anything - and really I'd like something new.

If you really want new then the cheapest way to do that is to buy a kit from Sailrite for about $800. Cruising & Racing Sails That would give you the added benefit of learning house to sew sails so you could do your own repairs and save even more money in the long run.

There are plenty of other used sail vendors out there. The Cat30 is a pretty common boat somebody should have a used one in good to very good shape.

[JPA Cate]

Adelie,

We still have the early SailRite saillmaking "books" aboard! Jim created a spinnaker and a storm jib with their aid. Especially the spinny made the other singlehanders think he was some kind of a magician! and maybe he is!

[estop]

North Sails would not even give me a call back after going to there office 4 times. How hard can it be to make sails for a stock Westsail 32 ?

[jeepbluetj]

As to sailrite - I'd love to have just made the dang thing. Only thing is I'd need a better machine that the cheap singer that's in the closet. (That I've worn out making cockpit cushions and a complete new interior) -- Yea, I should invest in a good walking foot machine, but $800 kit + a machine was significantly more than I paid for the (as yet unknown quality) sail.

Used: Gosh, you'd think there'd be thousands of C30 sails out there. There's not. Minnies had zero. I can drive to Minnies in 15 min, so it's not like I don't know where used sails are in socal. I think that as there's so much less C30 racing, there is a great demand for used sails without having much supply anymore. Just a guess tho.

Boom's painted, putting hardware back on. Hope to have a sail report by the end of the weekend.

[Cheechako]

Bacon's in Annapolis appears to have 4 new C30 mains for $1150 asking. 7 oz. with reefs.

[jeepbluetj]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Bacon's in Annapolis appears to have 4 new C30 mains for $1150 asking. 7 oz. with reefs.

Yup. Some of those are a little long in the foot (at least the one listed on their used page)

The one I ordered from National Sail was around that price, but with 4 full battens. It may be OK, it may be less than optimal. It'll be better than the old sail that was on there.