Oh Sail, Where art Thou?
I like Seth's advice, but that's not so unusual....
As to finding used sails for your model of boat, I see the problem from another angle. Small, older production cruisers are typically owned by a succession of owners that never replace ANY sails or lines until they fall apart. The owners view these boats as "transitional" boats and are loathe to spend a nickel on maint. when they find that the cost of a new dacron main, jib, and genny is more than the retail value of the boat.
No problem if you are keeping the boat for 5 to 10 years and will amortize the expenses with usage and joy on the water, though.
So, when the owner finally takes the bagged-out sail in to consign it, it has no real value to anyone. Since he is giving up 1/3 of the receipt to pay the commission, he asks way too much for something that probably ought to be free.
:eek:
If you have contacted a reputable sailmaker (like someone I could name on this Forum) and the price seems beyond your budget, there is another possibility or two. [Hey, it's a long shot... but here we go...]
Write down your complete measurements for main and jib, and disregard that you associate these numbers with an "Ericson 26." Now talk to the sail loft for several national sailmakers about "returns and rejects." It is certainly a long shot but they might have one somewhere that is a good fit for your boat. These are sails that were accidently built to a wrong measurement spec. but are up to all their construction standards. I have a friend that sourced a new main for his 34 footer that way, at half price.
Plan B: Review the measurements for a bunch of actively-campaigned small boats with rigs your size, and see if some have sails that would fit you -- then make contacts with racing fleets and lofts and locate owners that are selling one or two-year-old sails that are no longer perfect enough in their hotly-competitive fleets.
"Plan B" calls for some imagination... but it reminds me of the time I finally unloaded the tired-out mylar 140 that came with my '88 Olson 34, at my third try, at the big spring swap meet in Seattle. I got only $50. The new owner was sailing a full keel 38 footer on a tight budget and was delighted. For that price he and his wife got a sail with good shape and several patches and a whole lot of pin holes in the mylar layer...
And I got the monster the heck out of my basement! And, yes, he was walking around with an exact set of his rig measurements and a long tape measure.
I previously unloaded a tired dacron #2 genny for $100. But then, I try not to bring any stuff back home once I take it to a swap meet...
So, double-check those measurments, and start shopping. And, have Seth look around his loft attic, too.
Best,
Loren in PDX
Olson 34 #8