Main Sail

Apr 20, 2017
3
Beneteau Oceanis 46 Hopetown Bahamas
Our Beneteau 46 Oceanis Main sail is at the end of its life. Bacon Sails have been recommended as reliable purveyors of gently used sails. Does anyone have experience with the company to share.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
I have found that Neil Pryde, the OEM sail maker to be an excellent source for nicely priced new replacement sails. If you have not altered the original rig they may well have your measurements in hand. I was able to do some upgrades to my main to handle the higher wind conditions of the Bahamas, all at a good price.
 

KD3PC

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Sep 25, 2008
1,069
boatless rainbow Callao, VA
Bacon's has been around for quite some time and are reliable and good to work with.
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
Last time I was on the Beneteau parts site, I was surprised to see sails for my B323. IIIRC, the prices looked reasonable. Maybe they'll have yours? Bacons is just a couple miles from me. While I often suggest them for a lot of things, I would think (lacking other's opinions so far) a named sail loft would be a better choice. I'm not saying they make a bad sail. I have bought and sold used sails there, and recommend them for that. I have been there when they stretched out the incoming sail to evaluate them.
 
Jan 24, 2009
450
1981 Cherubini Hunter 27 Shipwright Harbor Marina, MD
A rule of thumb that gets posted is to take your sail to a local sailmaker to have them measure it directly and be able to talk to someone about what you want. I would look for a sailmaker in your area.
I got both my genoa & roller furler and my main from Bacon within the last 4 years and highly recommend them, but they are local for me, so I was able to take my sail over and talk to them about what I wanted.
Gunni's idea of buying direct from Neil Pryde also sounds like a good one, the prices have to be comparable to anywhere else.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
do you recall the price from Pryde for a new mail?
No, but it was half what the other guys were wanting as I remember and it was a boat show order for build over the winter. In other words it was part of a bulk order, big savings that way.

I was able to customize the cloth weight and add reinforcement where I had seen problems on the OEM sail.
 
May 18, 2016
18
Beneteau Oceanis 31 Grapevine, TX
A rule of thumb that gets posted is to take your sail to a local sailmaker to have them measure it directly and be able to talk to someone about what you want. I would look for a sailmaker in your area.
I got both my genoa & roller furler and my main from Bacon within the last 4 years and highly recommend them, but they are local for me, so I was able to take my sail over and talk to them about what I wanted.
Gunni's idea of buying direct from Neil Pryde also sounds like a good one, the prices have to be comparable to anywhere else.
A better rule is to measure the rig. The old sail has likely stretched, shrunk, or become misshapen over time. Measuring the rig, or better yet having the sailmaker measure the rig, is a much better thing to do to get sails that set well.
 
Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
Over the years, I have purchased a number of headsails from Bacons. I found that the quality of the sails was better than they advertised and thought the prices were right. I assume they still have a policy of being able to return a sail within 2 weeks of purchase, for any reason, if in the same condition you bought it.
 
May 9, 2006
56
Beneteau 373 Mystic, CT
Would add that Neil Pryde did a great job on a replacement set for my 2007 373 w furling main. One advantage to them is that the know what improvements have been made over the years and incorporate them They also built me a 105 to go with my 140 Genoa, consistent with more current designs. ( Significant improvement on extreme weather helm and rounding up, which is a problem with this boat, and operable in higher wind without premature reefing.)

Bob Patterson, technical director, is a great resource and probably the most knowledgeable about Beneteau sail design