Sails $
I think the last posts are essentially correct. You usually get what you pay for, so you have to decide what (and how much) you want to pay for.At the risk of over generalizing, my thinking along these lines is that the discount sails will have a decent shape that will be a compromise for a variety of conditions and boats. The useful life of the sail will be average for its cloth type. But a word of caution, years ago I bought some Hong Kong sails entirely built overseas including the cloth. I think the shape was a little substandard, and the cloth bagged out after just a couple of years until the 150% jib was really only good as a downwind sail. These were low end, and very inexpensive, although they needed replacing fairly soon.With the local premium lofts, you pay for a sail that can exactly fit your boat, and can be shaped for the wind conditions in you area. You have a number of material choices that can give the sails a longer useful life. One other thing you are paying for and may not need or use is the personal attention, advice, and “expertise” of the local sailmaker.As a point of reference, I am not very happy with the shape of my one-year-old Catalina’s sails. These are what I would call “budget sails”. Among other things, I think the main is too full, and the jib leach is not very flat. I feel this limits the boat’s pointing ability. I am intrigued by the “Cruising Direct” CD Radial jibs with their upgraded Norlam cloth. Looks like it might be a good compromise of value and performance.