cruiser / racer sails

[Birdseye]

i.e. not fancy carbon ones but maybe cruising laminate or high quality dacron. Any sailmaker recommendations?

I recently bought a tri radial cruising laminate jib from Sanders and have to say that I am impressed both by the way it sets and its adjustability. Far too early to know what quality is like but they were a good loft to deal with. I would go there again.

 

[alexg]

i.e. not fancy carbon ones but maybe cruising laminate or high quality dacron. Any sailmaker recommendations?

I recently bought a tri radial cruising laminate jib from Sanders and have to say that I am impressed both by the way it sets and its adjustability. Far too early to know what quality is like but they were a good loft to deal with. I would go there again.

A big difference between Sanders and many others is the fact that they make their sails on the loft floor in Lymington rather than having them made in China or Sri Lanka which is to all intents and purposes a 'relabel' job and a race to the bottom of the barrel as to who is prepared to accept the slimmest margin.

I have just asked for some quotes from Sanders for cruise-lam tri-radial main and Genoa and am fully expecting them to be more expensive than the cheapest of the cheap, but they will be good, they will fit, they will work and they will last... Having bought sails from them for over 10yrs, I'm pretty confident.

They do damn good covers and canvas work too! (Had a new stackpack and sprayhood from them in 2013 in addition to main, Genoa and asymmetric.

 

[bbg]

solosails of this parish is a sailmaker. you could PM him.

 

[Birdseye]

having just bought a new sail BBG, thats me for the season. I was just asking who else was good - on experience so far I will go back to Sanders.

 

[bitbaltic]

Another vote for Sanders. I purchased a tri-radial cruising laminate main and genoa from them at the start of last season. The sails are excellent and the service top notch- personal attention from Peter Sanders and delivered a little earlier than expected. I would go so far as to say Sanders are the best marine services company I have dealt with. There are lots of good sailmakers out there who I am sure make excellent sails too, but confidence in a service counts for a lot. Will certainly go back in a few seasons' time when it is time to replace.

 

[Birdseye]

Did you go the fully battened route for the main?

 

[bitbaltic]

Did you go the fully battened route for the main?

Yes. I think the full battens are fantastic as it is very easy to get the sail to set to a good shape and a big plus is they help it drop sweetly into the stack pack. However the new suit was part of an extensive rigging overhaul which included fitting a tides marine mainsail track (something Sanders are keen on) and the appropriate cars. I am not sure if fully battened would work so well without this.

Cheers

 

[Birdseye]

Thats one seriously expensive plastic extrusion!

 

[flaming]

Sanders made the sails for my Dad's Dufour, a cruising laminate. Pretty impressed in all, they're 10 years old and have done a lot of miles but are still in very decent shape.

 

[bitbaltic]

Thats one seriously expensive plastic extrusion!

Worth the money though. The other day we were pottering about in Cardiff Bay in a F5. When it came time to drop the sails we were passing a little Drascombes with two chaps aboard. To drop the main I just released the clutch from the cockpit and the whole thing dropped whoosh into the stack pack. We actually heard them exclaim 'whoa!'.

Seriously though the track is part of a package of running rigging upgrades we did last year in order to get a friction free rig and every time we sail I think those things were money well spent. The boat is very very easy to handle and this is a big plus for SWMBO and our 9 year old son.

Cheers