I'm on my third set of North sails. Those for my O'Day Mariner were made locally. Those for my O'Day 222, cruising sails, were made in Shri Lanka. The detail is out standing and their performance is better than I expected. Of course new sails are always better. They didn't have to ask me sail dimensions, or to see my old sails. They went into their vast library of sail data and produced a great suit of cruising sails. My choice.
Wow, thank you for the reference! So, Hunter 280 in the Portland, ME, area -- I am thinking this could be Joseph? Regardless, I greatly appreciate the kind words about Loong Sails and me!
Just a quick caveat: I probably can't come make your measurements, BUT it really isn't all that hard to do! Mostly it's common sense with just a few rules or guidelines to keep in mind.
The fact is that, despite appearances, most sails are made overseas and shipped here to the states in containers. The overseas lofts do vary in the quality of the sails they produce as well as how well they stand behind their products. Our lofts make all the sails for some big name "sailmakers" and some of the sails for others. They just put their labels on them. I am not permitted to say who they are, but I am talking about companies with massive marketing efforts, online and in full page spreads in sailing magazines. Yes, they are excellent companies that sell excellent sails.
Our sails are made in Shenzen City, China. Our design and production facilities are state-of-the-art. We use only European and American materials and hardware (Dimension Polyant, Contender, Challenge, Bainbridge).
Cheers!
Chris Cole
Material does matter!
2 full upper and 2 partial lower battens is a good arrangement: good roach support up high but good ability to shape larger sail area low.
I'd go with 2 reefs, especially in the Gloucester area.
Radial cut sails stay flatter than crosscut when the wind picks up and hold their shape for more years.
2 full upper and 2 partial lower battens is a good arrangement: good roach support up high but good ability to shape larger sail area low.
I'd go with 2 reefs, especially in the Gloucester area.
Radial cut sails stay flatter than crosscut when the wind picks up and hold their shape for more years.
Wow, I'm very impressed by the amount of support and information provided here. Thank you all for taking the time to thoughtfully write a response. You're all excellent stewards of your sport. Some conclusions I can take away; these are all great sailmakers so I'm on the right track. There's opportunity to save some money by going without a big brand, maybe I'll explore that more next sail. Radial performs better than cross cut but I'll probably stick to cross cut for now, keep the cost down as I continue to learn on this boat. At least 2 full battens seems like the way to go. I'll explore costs for a 2nd reef point based on the advice. It seems that all of these sailmakers use quality material, no one material head and shoulders above the rest as it pertains to the material in the quotes I've received anyway. Sail weight is more important, know what I'm getting. Politics continue to be a divisive issue...Did I miss anything?
The one resounding point I heard is, 'pick the maker that will be most involved with the process i.e. measuring the sail, installing it with you, even potentially going with you to test it out, and is willing to back up their product, making adjustments if necessary.' Well then, I think I have made my decision thanks to you all. Your commission checks from North Sails should be arriving soon
Thanks again,
Anthony
The one resounding point I heard is, 'pick the maker that will be most involved with the process i.e. measuring the sail, installing it with you, even potentially going with you to test it out, and is willing to back up their product, making adjustments if necessary.' Well then, I think I have made my decision thanks to you all. Your commission checks from North Sails should be arriving soon
Thanks again,
Anthony
Anthony,
Does all this advice help? As someone said you are mostly going to be happy with either one. The fact that North Sail wants to measure, gives them a leg up.
Doyle was helpful and provided great service at the loft
Can't wait to sail with you next year.
Louie
Does all this advice help? As someone said you are mostly going to be happy with either one. The fact that North Sail wants to measure, gives them a leg up.
Doyle was helpful and provided great service at the loft
Can't wait to sail with you next year.
Louie
Even one full batten can be enough. One thing to watch our for is the pressure they exert on the slides and the consequent friction. If you have 4 full battens, you might find it difficult to raise and lower the sail because of that friction. Then you might find you need to invest in a new track that accepts ball bearing cars or a Strong Track from Tides Marine. (Bainbridge also offers a retrofitted external track that I think has some advantages over the Strong Track.) And then you need the appropriate cars or slides. $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Or not. Some tracks and slides seem to handle full battens better than others.
Also, with more than two upper battens being full battens, you might find it difficult to change the draft depth and position in the lower part of the sail.
Or not. Some tracks and slides seem to handle full battens better than others.
Also, with more than two upper battens being full battens, you might find it difficult to change the draft depth and position in the lower part of the sail.
One work around for full battens and the pressure on the slugs is to use a sail slug one size smaller on the batten cars. This gives them some wiggle room so they don't jam in the track. Learned this the expensive way.
That can work. I have found that round "barrel" type slides are more prone to jamming than flat slides, though, especially if they are undersized. That said, Allslip slides tend to work pretty well. Also, Selden offers some slides with rollers on the outside that are made for full batten luff boxes and internal tracks, but you might have trouble matching them to the slot in your mast extrusion. If you have an external stainless track that takes "C" type slides, you might want to retrofit the Tides Strong Track or the Bainbridge external track.
One other thing to watch for is the fill to warp ratio of the cloths being specified. For example, Doyle is correctly specifying a high aspect cloth. Quantum is not.
The warp strands are those that run the full length of a bolt or panel. The fill are the strands that go side to side (as does a shuttlecock).
On a crosscut sail, most of the stress is across the panels in the fill direction -- that is, up and down. So the fill should be heavier than the warp by approximately the aspect ratio of the sail. Your aspect ratio is about 2.8, making it a high aspect sail (high aspect typically considered to be anything over a 2.5 ratio). So ideally your fill would be in the ballpark of 2.5 or more times the denier of your warp. Contender 6.4 has a ratio of 410/250 (1.64), more suitable for a low aspect sail. So depending on conditions in which you choose to sail, it might be slightly heavier than it needs to be, hurting light air performance, or somewhat weak in the vertical. If you like going out in the heavier stuff, maybe have the panel seams reinforced at the leech, or you might want go to the 7.4 if Quantum can't offer a good high aspect cloth in the 6.4 ounce weight range.
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my Hunter 280 had full battens, and the PO installed Hardin batt cars...really sweet.
when I put a new full-batten main on my O’Day 322, I put a Tides Marine Strong track...reduces a ton of friction.
Greg
Hi folks. I got a Quantum mainsail - full battens, 2 reefs about 6 months ago. Service was excellent although delayed a bit by the pandemic. Their local rep came to measure and then came again after delivery to assist with installation. The sail performs great. Strong positive ratings from me.
Jess
Sabre 30
Jess
Sabre 30
Yes...Harkin. Glad the OP paid for it!
But the Tides system is pretty close. In stalled the track myself. Hardest part was opening the sail slot (grinding back the aluminum a bit) to get the HDPE track up the mast track. The slides are polished SST, heavy duty and they slide easily in the HDPE track. I am now able to reef or shake out a reef while sailing on a beam reach - with a single line reefing set up from the safety of the cockpit.
Greg