Those of you thinking of investing in some new sails for next season should read Paul Bailey's article. He seems to be delighted with his but guides us through the complex process of choosing and ordering new sails.
I’ve had Kittiwake about 14 months now and from the start always thought that I would need new sails at some stage as the old ones were getting tatty, stained and had a few holes here and there. So after some good late summer/early autumn sailing I bit the bullet and started making some enquires.
After asking around and doing some Internet searches I narrowed the potential suppliers down to four: R&J, Dolphin, Arun and Batt. I sent them all a duplicate email setting out my requirements expecting to have to make a decision based on price. I was surprised at the outcome.
· R&J were the best in terms of response time, a good price but a very long lead time of six months. Not sure why, could be large order book but I was not prepared to wait.
· Arun were very quick to respond saying that they would ring me that weekend to discuss.
· Dolphin did not respond until prompted. They then asked a question or two that I replied to the same day, since then .........no response.
· Batt did not respond at all!
Arun, good to their word, phoned me that weekend. Gerry for Rockall sails (a subsidiary of Arun) phoned me, discussed some details, gave me some good advice and a price and then left me under no pressure what so ever to make up my own mind by saying ‘you know where we are, give me a call if you want to place the order’. Well I hate sales pressure (or even sails pressure) and so this left me feeling very positive about Arun. Two weeks later after confirming a few more details including getting samples of the coloured sail material, the order was placed with Arun.
Well, three weeks later I phoned to see how they were getting on to find the sails were ready. Gerry had quoted approx two weeks but this did not take into account having to order the material as I wanted a colour they did not stock, so a three week delivery was great.
I got the sails on Friday - 3 weeks and two days after placing the order. First impressions: They came loosely packed in a short fat bag with three batons, inside the bag is a long sail bag allowing the sails to be rolled and stored without folding, which is good.
I only own one set of sails so I’m no expert, but now realise the old ones have had it! I can only judge the sails on aesthetics as they are now wrapped up in Xmas paper! But I did manage to get them out and do a full inspection. They look great; sunwing classic tan with white stitching is a great contrast. The colour was a hard choice to make which is why I had samples sent but I'm very happy with the choice. A light tan that has a slight marbling effect making the cloth look old even when it’s new.
The stitching looks consistent and is finished well. I had a set of reefing points fitted. I expected a row of eyes but not only got a row of eyes but reinforced points at each end as well so the sail is as strong when reefed as when fully set.
The jib has bronze Jib hanks fitted with nice protectors around the luff wire and is equally well finished.
Apart from the fact that the new sails are so much stiffer than the old ones I have noticed that the jib is lower cut and the old main must have shrunk over the years as the new one is about 0.5m2 bigger overall. As I said earlier I’m no expert and have limited things to compare them to, that aside I’m very happy with the new sails.
Thanks Paul, I would like to add that Dolphin did sell me a very nice set of racing sails a few years back but a company I would not recommend is Jeckells. Just thought I'd stick my oar in if you will pardon the nautical pun!
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