help! used sails advice

[CNein001]

Good morning. I have an opportunity to purchase new sails for my cal 27. The sails are coming from a morgan 27. The measurements appear to be very compatible for my boat. I do not have enough Money to buynew sails. The guy says they are in very good condition. Can anyone tell me what I should be looking for when I go to examine them? How should they feel? I know no rips, but what else? Any help would be much appreciated.

He will sell me a main with a cover, and a 135 jib for 600 total. If in good quality, would this be a good deal?

Chris

 

[Ted]

Help! Used sails advice

I would suggest taking the sails to your local sail loft and have them do a professional evaluation on them. They will be able to tell you if there are any problems with them and what repairs or tweaks would be necessary to get them into good sailing condition. $600 does not seem unreasonable for a main, main sail cover and jib that are in good serviceable condition.

 

[Eric M]

Chris,

New sails will be crisp and stiff. A rolled sail, without battens will be nearly stiff enough to pick up in the middle of the roll without bending in half. Not saying that a softer sail may not be perfectly good for what you need. Only you can figure out what you are willing to pay to get something "better" than what you have. Why are the Morgan sails up for sale? Is the owner a racer who is upgrading 1-2 year old sails? If so, they likely have years and years of cruising life left in them. On the flip side, if the sails are already 10 years old, you need to inspect them closely. The thread will begin to degrade in the sun so look at all the stitching closely to see if you see signs of the threads starting to break.
Any chance the current owner would bring them to you and go sailing with them with you on your boat? That is the real test, if you are happy with the way your boat sails with these sails.
Good Luck.