New sails - no 'local' sailmakers.

[Stuphoto]

If it was within your price range I have to say Good choice Frank,

I may be wrong, but I believe UK makes at least some of their sails right in Sydney, and it's nice seeing our money stay within BC.

Precision has theirs made overseas.

For me, another aspect is I am planning on selling my 25 in the next year or 2. Since it's only worth $8,000 or so tops, I don't see any point in dropping $5,000 in sails on it.

My next boat will be in the $30,000 to $50,000 range so it may be worth the extra expense.

 

[Frank Langer]

If it was within your price range I have to say Good choice Frank,

I may be wrong, but I believe UK makes at least some of their sails right in Sydney, and it's nice seeing our money stay within BC.

Precision has theirs made overseas.

For me, another aspect is I am planning on selling my 25 in the next year or 2. Since it's only worth $8,000 or so tops, I don't see any point in dropping $5,000 in sails on it.

My next boat will be in the $30,000 to $50,000 range so it may be worth the extra expense.

Yes, my sails were made in the loft in Sydney, BC and the price was only a bit more than Precision Sails. I liked that they came to do measurements, the owners own a sailboat and race regularly, and they have a good reputation.
Frank

 

[southofvictor]

I’ve been really happy with the tri radial 125 we got from UK in Sidney last spring. Stuart was great to work with and the sail seems really well built. They also did some maintenance on our main and added slides for a tides track on a quick timeline while we were in town. They’re great folks.

 

[G Kiba]

I am told that the margin on sails is pretty small. Hard to make it unless you have wealthy clientele of which the Bay Area seems to.

 

[Nick J]

Cool, I just looked up UK Sailmakers NW and I didn't realize it was the loft near the Van Isle marina. We walked past it on our summer trip and I was impressed with the space. We also noticed Van Isle Marina has some of the coolest boats I've seen gathered in one place.

 

[bigd14]

I took advantage of the Black Friday discount and ordered a Tri-Radial main from Precision last week. Had a good discussion with one of their reps who indicated that it should be a little easier to manage sail shape with the tri-radial to get upwind (since on our little narrow river we are often pinching to make any headway). Frank's good experience with the tri-radial also helped me in that direction. The rep was definitely not trying to upsell me, on the contrary he thought I could get by with their middle-grade crosscut sail when I was considering the upper grade. Still have to measure the boat. I also got an additional quote from UK Sailmakers which of course came in a little higher than Precision, but I would still have to measure the boat since they do not have anyone nearby to do that. I'll update as things move forward.

 

[ConchyDug]

I'm curious why they pushed for a radial cut main over panel? I understand the 30+ has a fractional rig so I'm guessing the mast is noodley enough to change the draft noticeably when the backstay is cranked on? I have a masthead rig and the local UK sailmaker said the difference in performance between radial vs crosscut mains wasn't enough to notice on masthead boats but maybe it's more noticable on fractionals. Also, I'm curious why they went full length battens on a radial main? With an adjustable backstay on a fractional rig wouldn't you go with shorter leech battens so you draft is more variable?

 

[bigd14]

I'm curious why they pushed for a radial cut main over panel?

They did not push at all. I had done some research and understood that the tri-radials might hold their original shape a bit longer than the crosscut, although the overall lifespan of the crosscut may longer due to fewer seams (witness the 1993 crosscut sail currently on the boat which is still in one piece, but looks like Santa Claus' nightshirt). That shape holding ability is attractive to me given where we sail. It was the rep who mentioned the slightly better pointing ability, but who knows if I would ever notice the difference.

The current mainsail is so bagged out that I don't notice a huge difference when the backstay is cranked on. I'm sure it will have much more of an effect with a new sail.

As for the full length battens, that is the current sail design and I have lazy jacks and a stackpack style system so I figured I should carry them forward, but I hadn't considered the downside you mention. If it's not already painfully obvious, I am far from an expert on shaping sails and especially sail design. This is the first time I have purchased a new sail. I know enough to get from point A to point B reasonably efficiently, but little about the finer points of sail trim. However, I love learning, so thank you for the comments! It sounds like further conversation with the sail designer is in order.

Doug