I have a Catalina 30 Standard rig. 1995
I need to replace my 150 furling genoa. I plan to get a 135 since I sail in Buzzards Bay and the wind is normally strong from the SW.
Can anyone give me information as to the quality of this brand? It is a great price, about $400 less than Doyle or North. Also, Sunbrella UV Vs. the standard dacron UV protection?
Any suggestions would be helpful
Bob
[Full disclosure: I'm a sales rep for Hyde Sails.]
I'm going to target this posting to the coastal cruiser or recreational beer can racer. Not the blue water passager maker or avid racer
Sail pricing is all about cloth selection and construction details. They determine how the sail performs when it's new and as it accumulates time on the water. How long will the sail perform well? That's what you're paying for when you pay more for a dacron cruising sail.
All dacron sailcloth lasts a really long time without ripping. But the lower grades don't hold their shape as well even when new, and they start stretching noticably after just a few times out sailing in high winds.
Cheap sails get baggy fast, maybe in one season. Better sails cost a little more, but they perform well for several seasons (depending on how much you use them, keep them out of the sun, and keep them clean and dry).
When there are significant differences in sailcloth and construction, an experienced sailor will notice a perfomance difference between the two sails as soon as you've put there's a hundred hours on them or sailed them in high winds one or two times. The sail with better cloth and better construction will trim better, heel less in the gusts, and point higher.
1. Cloth:
Make sure you get a complete description of the sail in writing.
The loft should tell you the manufacturer, product name or number, weight, and specify that it is first quality, not a second, purchased directly from the manufacturer or authorized agent.
All the reputable sail cloth companies (Challenge, DimensionPolyant, Contender, Bainbridge) make several grades of polyester dacron sailcloth, from economy-class to high-end cruising cloths and dacron club-racer cloth... and in between. A very high-end dacron can cost up to 10 times as much as an economy cloth. A mid-grade dacron typically costs at least 25-50% more than an economy cloth.
I repeat myself for emphasis: All dacron sailcloth lasts a really long time without ripping. But the lower grades start stretching noticeably after just a few times out sailing in high winds.
2. Construction details.
Recreational cruisers don't need all the bells and whistles you find on passage-making sails, but the basic structural details must be well-executed or else the sail-cloth will be overloaded and will stretch out.
Make sure you get a complete comprehensive list of the features and details of construction in writiing. A higher quality loft will be happy to describe all the "extra" things they do to make a better sail.
An economy-level sail will be missing some features that contribute to shape-holding. The better built sail will perform better when it's new and as it ages.
Better constructed sails distribute the loads better. Sails need reinforcment patches in high stress locations: head/tack/clew, reefing patches, the forward end of the batten pockets, at the leech end of seams, along the foot and leech of a roller furling sail, etc.
(For smaller pocket yacht sails: Beware of headsails or mainsails without ropes or cords in the luff, or reinforcements at every slide/hank. They're necessary for anything larger than a dinghy sail. A "cruising" sail that doesn't have cord or rope in the luff will not hold it's shape.)
The variables of construction would take too long to discuss here, but if you could put the two sails together, I believe you would see the differences
3. Dacron UV-treated cloth vs Sunbrella.
The sunbrella will outlast the UV treated dacron. Sunbrella is usually about 9 oz and is heavy. UV Dacron is usually about 4.5 oz and doesn't weigh down the sail on light wind days.
If you live in florida or gulf coast or southern CA, you'll get 4-5 years from UV dacron. If you live in New England or Northern CA, the UV dacron will last perhaps 7-8 years, especially if you sore the sails indoors during the off-season.
UV dacron costs less than name-brand sunbrella. It lays smoother on the sail (and doesn't pucker and shrink as much as Sunbrella does.) UV dacron weighs about half of what Sunbrella does, so the sail flies better in light wind.
Sunbrella will need to be removed and restitched in 4-10 years, depending on your latitude. The subrella fabric will long out last the stitching. Sunbrella tends to shrink and pucker as time passes, causing puckering over a couple of years. By the time that happens, the thread used to sew it on will have been weakened by UV and start to break.
If you're cruising around the world and will be in the tropics, I'd definitely recommend Sunbrella over UV Dacron. You can get it restitched in any port in the world.
(Saluda is a UV resistant, waterproof acrylic marine fabric from Spain that is very similar to Sunbrella, but costs much less. Saluda, which lasts at least twice as long as UV Dacron, but not quite as long as Sunbrella.)
I work in the sail industry, and I could have whatever I want at a discount. I peronally prefer UV Dacron over Sunbrella for my RF sails. The dacron UV edge makes the sail fly better than Sunbrella.
UV Dacron also adds some strength to the foot and leech of the genoa when it's rolled up. It'll help the sail hold its shape when it's furled to be used in higher winds. Sunbrella does not. For a light wind genoa, there are significant advantages to UV dacron sacrificial edges.
4. Inquire about service after you receive the sail too. For custom sails especially, sometimes something has to be tweaked for a perfect fit. A good loft will bend over backwards to meet your expectations and keep their reputation.
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My final advice is this: before you buy based on price, talk to a representative of a reputable loft. Give him/her a chance to offer you at least two choices: a good sail for a middle price, and a better sail for a little more. The ask what the difference between the two sails is.
No matter who you utimately buy your sail from, you'll learn something in the process that'll help you make a better choice for your wallet and your sailing style .
Hope this helps some....
Fair winds,
Judy B
