Best place for custom sails?

[cs]

Not given up yet on the used sails, but I havent' seen one that fits close enough for my taste yet?

I've contacted Atlantic Sail Traders. Who else would you recomend?

Chad

[bamamick]

are from my buddy Hunter Riddle at Schurr Sails in Pensacola. I have forgotten for a moment what kind of boat it is that you have, but I believe that it was a fairly common build and I would imagine that Hunter has it is in the computer.

Mickey Lake

[cs]

It is a Balboa 20 and here are the sail specifics.

Luff 21ft (6400mm)
Foot 8.67ft (2642mm)
Leech-AftHdBd 21.95ft (6690mm)
Tack Ang 85.91*
Diag (clew/head) 22.14ft (6748mm)
Head (inches) 4in (102mm)
Area (no Roach) 93.82*ft2 (8716mm2)
Comments Tack pin 3.5" aft of mast

Do you have a web link?

Chad

if this is the place I found it and sent them an e-mail

http://www.schurrsails.com

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Gambell and Hunter.
Advertised in our sponsors mag.
Non Betta

http://angelispress.com/TMR/Issues/aug02/aug02art4.html

[cs]

Went ahead and sent them an e-mail also.

Chad

[davidagage]

Hey Chad, maybe the sail warehouse ?

[paladin]

Googla Rolly Tasker, send the info attn. Mike Tasker.......you might come out ahead in price and will get first class sails...

[David G]

Bought the custom balanced lugsail for our dinghy from Duckworks. Very pleased.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/sails.htm

"There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls" -- George Carlin

[cs]

Done and done. Duckworks I was able to figure based on their square foot price.

Chad

[mmd]

Michelle Stevens Sail Loft. Yes, related (grand-niece) of those Stevens'. http://www.tallships.ca/sailloft/

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I have to say that I am very impressed with the sails that Joe got for Dove from Gambell and Hunter. Very very nice workmanship, and attention to detail. We have a very good little loft in Kingston Ontario, run by Andy Soper...Kingston Sail loft. He does very fine work as well, and has a lot of sensitivity to traditional designs. That said, he commented that Gambell and Hunter had a very fine reputation.

[P.L.Lenihan]

I'll second the recommendation for Andrew Soper.Had a jib,main and mizzen made by him.Absolutely perfect and done all traditional. If our dollar continues to drop, it may be worth seriously checking him out.

Peter

[cs]

So far 3 prices have come in. Atlantic Sail Traders so far have the best price and Schurr is a little bit higher but with a light dacron. Gambell and Hunter price was even higher.

Still waiting on some of the other prices to come in and than to decide if I'm going to go this way or still wait and see what become available elsewhere.

Chad

[Figment]

Chad, are you pricing "traditional" sails for the Balboa?

[cs]

I'm not sure what you mean by traditional. Here is what I'm sending out for pricing.

I'm looking to get a mainsail for my Balboa 20. Here are the sail specifics.

Luff 21ft (6400mm)
Foot 8.67ft (2642mm)
Leech-AftHdBd 21.95ft (6690mm)
Tack Ang 85.91*
Diag (clew/head) 22.14ft (6748mm)
Head (inches) 4in (102mm)
Area (no Roach) 93.82*ft2 (8716mm2)
Comments Tack pin 3.5" aft of mast

Also I'm restoring this boat and don't have the boom, so I will be making my own
boom. The foot of the sail will be attached to the boom via robands.

Chad

[Figment]

I mean there's big cost difference between a standard white dacron sail with radial patches and pressed grommets (perfectly appropriate for the Balboa, IMO) and the traditionally detailed sails Joe got from Gambell and Hunter.

Based on that RFP, I wouldn't expect anyone to be pricing nonstandard detailing, but you mentioned a price from G&H, who are known for their traditional work.

[cs]

The best price was from Atlantic Sail Traders and they quoted using 6.4 oz Contender Super Cruise Dacron. Gambell and Hunter didn't specify what material they were using and their price was 73% higher.

I don't know enough about sail material to tell them what is best. I was hoping that maybe the quotes would include the material and than use that to judge what I think is the best. Once I choice a sailmaker I can than maybe negotate a material.

Chad

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Gambell and Hunter 73% better FWIW the price I got for DOVES sails were about 80% less from G&H than fron North Sail and Quantum. Those big lofts are pricey.

Also I had G&H send me samples of the Egyptian Cotton (color) dacron they were going to use on DOVE. Given the period of the boat (1945) they chose a weight and a smaller panel size as would be common to the era.

I just sent off the mainsail for Tidbit to them, to reproduce. I'm sure it wont be cheep but it will be worth it. I plan on racing the new catboat in our club next season

[Dale Genther]

Try Bacon's in Annapolis, MD. They have a huge inventory of used sails.

[Todd Bradshaw]

A quote is pretty worthless without the fabric being specified. Most cloth manufacturers make both high-quality Dacrons and what are termed "OEM" Dacrons (the kind of cheap fabric used on economy boat sails for the fiberglass box-boat manufacturers). These fabrics rely heavily on their resin coating for stability, rather than the weaving and once the resin starts to break down, they go downhill fast.

You have every right to know exactly what weight, manufacturer and model of fabric will be used in your sails. If they don't specify it, ask for it. If they can't tell you - go elsewhere. I'm not sure it's worth tying up a ton of cash in fancy sails for an old Balboa, but you should know clearly what you would be buying by the time you're done reading the quote. If you don't believe me, ask one of my customers.

By the way, "a standard white Dacron (meaning cross-cut) sail with radial patches" is a horrible choice. Radial patches work great, but should really only be used on radial sails. The reason you see them on regular sails is because they look sexy and they're so cheap and easy to do that a monkey could make them. Cross-cut sails should have patches cut to match the weave direction of the panel fabric underneath them. They're stronger and less prone to causing big wrinkles in your sail than sticking on a radial patch with the weave going every-which direction. (I think this one is around rule #3 or #4 of basic sailmaking, but some lofts choose to ignore it because their customers don't know any better.)

[Concordia...41]

Chad - What Todd said, plus you're like me (just learning the "ropes"), so get a good basic sail and spend your time learning to tune it - outhaul, downhaul, backstay tension etc.

Here were my stages on Drift Away:

1. Old sail - roughly as loose as a bed sheet. I sent it to SailCare, but didn't fit right to start with and I didn't know the difference. Was just happy to be out sailing and if the boat went more or less in the direction I intended.

2. The local pro took me under his wing & added a boom vang, block for outhaul, block for downhaul, and backstay tensioner. Performance increase maybe 5-10 % with piece-of-crap sail.

3. New mainsail and 130 jib. (Actually the mainsail was recut from a hand-me-down and the jib was new from UK.) Performance increase when one of the pros was tuning/driving 100%. It was like the boat was turbo charged. Performance increase when I was out by myself - maybe 20% (for several hundred dollars worth of sails )

Point being, I think the finite condition of the sail = 20%; rig & sail tuning = 40%; helmsman's ability = 40%

Also, I had the local UK rep who sailed the boat, pulled the measurements himself, understood the conditions I would be sailing in, and knew my skill level (or lack thereof).

Everything - including fabric weight came off of those factors.

Pulling measurements isn't hard, it's knowing what to measure, the difference in materials as they pertain to your boat and the sailing that you will be doing, and where to be able to tweak something here or there that makes a custom sail worthwhile.

So get something basic to get you on the water and enjoy!

- M

[Todd Bradshaw]

Before I forget Chadski....You also need to be thinking about your boom/gooseneck/tack fitting system, since it probably won't be the stock one for a Balboa. Whether they've thought of it yet or not, it's pretty tough to build a custom sail and get it to fit properly without knowing that little bit of info. Either they will need to build the sail to fit your system or you will have to build your gooseneck's tack ring to fit their sail, but it's better to make sure that everybody knows where that fitting will be before anybody builds anything.