Makes a lot of sense. I had to have my luff released when I bought my Mac ages ago. It's geometry!
About to drop cash on a new mainsail, advice please.
- Thread starter dgreen1991
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- hunter 26 hunter 260
SAIL NUMBERS
Yes, Hunter 260's get their sail numbers from the Hull ID.
REEFS
If you plan to do coastal sailing on the ocean, you should definitely have a deep reef. For the Hunter 260, with its fractional rig, the deepest reef we recommend is drops the head of the mainsail to just above the forestay, approx 19-20% of the luff. That reduces sail area by about 35%. You don't want to go any deeper than that because it could cause the mast to invert in rough conditions.
I recommend that you forego a traditional first reef at 12% up the luff; it's wussy for a Hunter waterballasted boat with a fractional rig. Go for a single reef at approx 20% - it is more effective.
Judy B
I live about 40 minutess from the nearest lake about hours from Charleston where I sail mostly. I do not go for less than 3 days for my sailing fix. About an hour for me to set up and be sailing. For short fixes I take my 14 foot aluminum boat with 25 hp Suzuki easy in easy out. I can leave it at the dock if I choose too. But I usually take vacations a week at a time, then I stay aboard the whole time with visits to the marina. It works for me. Also much easier to step outback to complete projects. Been doing it this way since 1999. So busy these days I cannot go every week like I want.
Thanks Judy, Been reading your posts since the "Doc" days. Appreciate all the great advice from you all.
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Don,
I suggest you first check with the SBO store. http://shop.sailboatowners.com/cu/detail-sails.php I've never bought sails from them but have had good service buying other things. Folks who have bought here seem to have good experiences with their sails.
I had my spinnaker made at www.fxsails.com I pretty much made my decision based on price and the fact that he's in South Carolina and would truly understand what I was looking for with the SC flag. I was very pleased with the price and the results. Turns out, though, that just about any sail guy could have done the same thing.
I have met Joe Waters who owns Waters Sails in Lexington. He's a nice guy and seems extremely knowledgeable. www.waterssails.net. I've been told he's pretty pricey but I don't have any experience with buying sails from him. I have seen his shop and was pretty dang impressed. I imagine he would be a good one to advise you and can look at your boat in person. Since you said something about being willing to pay for what you want I thought it might be a good idea for you to at least talk to him. His website is nothing to brag about, though. I don't think it really does his business proud.
Good luck with this. And let us know what you do.
I suggest you first check with the SBO store. http://shop.sailboatowners.com/cu/detail-sails.php I've never bought sails from them but have had good service buying other things. Folks who have bought here seem to have good experiences with their sails.
I had my spinnaker made at www.fxsails.com I pretty much made my decision based on price and the fact that he's in South Carolina and would truly understand what I was looking for with the SC flag. I was very pleased with the price and the results. Turns out, though, that just about any sail guy could have done the same thing.
I have met Joe Waters who owns Waters Sails in Lexington. He's a nice guy and seems extremely knowledgeable. www.waterssails.net. I've been told he's pretty pricey but I don't have any experience with buying sails from him. I have seen his shop and was pretty dang impressed. I imagine he would be a good one to advise you and can look at your boat in person. Since you said something about being willing to pay for what you want I thought it might be a good idea for you to at least talk to him. His website is nothing to brag about, though. I don't think it really does his business proud.
Good luck with this. And let us know what you do.
Don,
We ordered our new sails from Precison sails. We were very happy with the price and delivery. They showed up 2 months ahead of expected delivery date as we took the winter delivery option.
The bigger thing was the order form. We had to take a lot of measurements to ensure we got exactly what we wanted. I had the leach cut to raise our boom to get the boom parallel to the boat. They contacted us and verified our measurements and listened to our wants.
The sails have performed very well and I no longer fear loosing my head from the sagging boom sweeping across the cockpit.
Sam
We ordered our new sails from Precison sails. We were very happy with the price and delivery. They showed up 2 months ahead of expected delivery date as we took the winter delivery option.
The bigger thing was the order form. We had to take a lot of measurements to ensure we got exactly what we wanted. I had the leach cut to raise our boom to get the boom parallel to the boat. They contacted us and verified our measurements and listened to our wants.
The sails have performed very well and I no longer fear loosing my head from the sagging boom sweeping across the cockpit.
Sam
Yep, getting older every day! Posted most of the time on the trailer sailor website.You're most welcome!
Wow, DGreen, you've been around this website a lonnnnnng time, old man!
Sam so you had the same problem. Looks like I will go down that same road. I like the quality of the sails and watched the videos on you tube. Think I will purchase from Precision. Winter delivery is fine for me. Feb 2017.
Don,
We hope you have a similar experience as we did. We lost a bit of sail area cutting it like we did but we'll worth it to get rid of the safety issue we had.
Not tring to talk you out of it but have you considered having your current sail re cut and refreshed? It might be a cheaper option.
Sam
We hope you have a similar experience as we did. We lost a bit of sail area cutting it like we did but we'll worth it to get rid of the safety issue we had.
Not tring to talk you out of it but have you considered having your current sail re cut and refreshed? It might be a cheaper option.
Sam
I purchased a sail from him years ago for my 14 foot Phantom sailboat. I like your spinnaker. I still need to rig mine. Mine is a symmetrical one with a fixed mast connection point for my forespar pole. I need to rig the lines for pole up and down, not sure if the jib halyard is used for the head of the spinnaker and the lower exit point is for the pole halyard. I think I will just have to raise it in the backyard to figure out how it was rigged. Looks like your asym is flown from the jib halyard.
DGREEN1991;
If your mainsail is original with the 26, Over the years the bolt rope does shrink but sails do stretch. Suggest a new sail at that point vs. repairing. I love the photos posted here.
You mentioned Mermaid installed. Any idea where the boat came from or who installed that system? Just curious.
Dave Condon
If your mainsail is original with the 26, Over the years the bolt rope does shrink but sails do stretch. Suggest a new sail at that point vs. repairing. I love the photos posted here.
You mentioned Mermaid installed. Any idea where the boat came from or who installed that system? Just curious.
Dave Condon
Just click on upload a file then browse for your pic. Close the little black query window after you select your pic. A thumbnail size of your pic will appear lower left of screen. You then select thumb or full image.
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DrJudy - First, thanks for all your very educational posts.
I struggled with photo file uploading, looking for a tool in the row of text formatting buttons. What worked is the bluish button below the text entry box, that says "Upload a file". This assumes the photo is in a file, probably has to be a JPG format or similar (maybe BMP works too, not sure).
I struggled with photo file uploading, looking for a tool in the row of text formatting buttons. What worked is the bluish button below the text entry box, that says "Upload a file". This assumes the photo is in a file, probably has to be a JPG format or similar (maybe BMP works too, not sure).
My H23's boom was terribly low in the cockpit, threatening to sweep my small daughters, wife and two big idiot dogs crowding the cockpit right on overboard. I took it to a sailmaker and had them shorten the sail, and got the boom above all of the short heads.
Hmm, I did come in dead last the few times I tried racing...
Hmm, I did come in dead last the few times I tried racing...
Drjudyb
When you state considerable bend in the 260 or 26 mast of this B & R rig, I was very much involved with these boats from the inception and found excessive bend was not the norm. There has been much discussed on this but I base this on experience and by the way Lars B of B &R concurred with me too. You are correct about a prebend initially of 4-6 when first tuning when measuring from the gooseneck but in the end a slight prebend to the rear is all that is needed. Lars showed me and based on that and results in racing, never looked back.
When you state considerable bend in the 260 or 26 mast of this B & R rig, I was very much involved with these boats from the inception and found excessive bend was not the norm. There has been much discussed on this but I base this on experience and by the way Lars B of B &R concurred with me too. You are correct about a prebend initially of 4-6 when first tuning when measuring from the gooseneck but in the end a slight prebend to the rear is all that is needed. Lars showed me and based on that and results in racing, never looked back.
Don't feel bad, we had our sail shortened too and I tend to come in last as well. But I attribute it more to that quick stop by the dock store during the race to pickup more beer for after the races that causes me to finish last LOL!
Sam