We have been sailing with our new sails on our Hunter 20 now for almost a month so it is time to answer the big question. Was it worth the 1200 bucks? I have to say yes it was and for several reasons.
While the old sails moved the boat they were well past their prime. We could probably have sent them in a had the luff bolt rope cut and lengthened and the sails freshened up and bought a few more years but we really wanted a furler and a larger head sail. Plus I really wanted to get the foot of the main cut up at a different angle to get the boom out of the cockpit. Yes we could have had the headsail redone with luff tape and the main re cut to achieve the same results but considering we would have had probably more than half the cost of new sail in them to accomplish that we decided to bite the big one and get new sails.
We chose to go with Precision sails. Their price was the best we found and they seemed to do a really good job overall. They called me several times to discuss the changes and once to tell me due to the sheeting angles I should not try to run a 130 genoa. The designer said he would get me all he could as I did not want to add a new genoa track to the deck as we had no real good place to put it. He called back and said we could go with a 122. I chuckled as it was 8% off from what I wanted. Sounded good to me. It only gained us a little over a foot and a half in length on the foot of the headsail but it really seems to have made a difference.
We ordered early and got a discount for that and some other sale they were offering so both sails delivered were just shy of 1200. Our expected delivery date was Valentines day. We came home Saturday Dec 26th and our new sails were sitting in front of our front door! Seeing how we agreed these were supposed to be our Christmas gifts to each other it was very fitting. Of course I knew better and got the Admiral something just because we all know how women are with gifts given early LOL.
Precision sails called me a few weeks after delivery to follow up with us to make sure we were happy with our purchase. I had to inform her it was the middle of the winter and we had been busy skiing instead of sailing. She gave me her number and told me to call with any comments or concerns after the spring thaw. We shared a laugh and I agreed to do what she asked.
The snow finally melted and the furler came in. Everything rigged up just fine, once I got a new head stay. Our first impression was that the new sails sure were stiff! It was like folding cardboard. Even in the driveway with a gentle breeze they were noisy sails. We joked we would not be sneaking up on anyone on the lake with these.
We can't park in our slip till May 1st and the wait was painful as we missed several good sailing days in April. But the day finally came and we launched in between storms. Our first sail did not have very good wind so it was not far trial run but since then we have sailed in winds up to 30 mph. Here is what we have determined.
1. We, me, loves having the boom come off the mast at a 90 degree angle instead of hanging down in the cockpit. While we may have lost about 18" of main sail at the clew we sure can't tell it but I am very happy we chose to do that each time we tack and I don't have to duck. Plus it just looks so much better.
2. An extra foot and half on the head sail makes a big difference in how the boat handles in the moderate to stronger winds. If the new main sail made the boat less tender then the new head sail more than made up for what that gained us. Not a big deal as we can easily furl the head sail in some when the wind picks up, we just need to get used to doing that and probably do it a bit sooner than we have been. I am sure the more we sail the better we get at doing that sooner than later.
3. Yes, she is faster. Last year in similar winds the boat was typically at best 4.5 mph boat. Occasionally we would see the mid 5's but it was all she had. Now we are cruise more in the 5 to mid five range and it quickly accelerates to low to mid 6 range when we get a good breeze. Over 6.5 and the rudder is more of a brake and you better be ready for her to come around if you don't let the main sheet out. Reefing the head sail helps a lot to prevent that as well. Even with the first reef in the main the boat still scoots. Pointing is probably close to 10 degrees higher. We are still working with the best placement of the jib tracks to get the best angle into the wind. The headsail luffs first now and moving the roller forward a bit has gained us a few more degrees into the wind.
4. Downwind performance is much better with the larger headsail and tighter main but it needs help to achieve that. The headsail curls and flops around more now in light air on a run so we have resorted to using our boat hook as a whisker pole till our actual whisker pole arrives. Here is Admiral Cindy enjoying the ride last night.
View attachment 123864
We can't pole it out all the way as our pole is not strong enough but even still it is a huge improvement. We made one long run downwind to our slip last night in very light air and made better than 4 mph the whole way. Without the pole the headsail would have been constantly luffing and falling in on itself.
5. New sails mean more work needs to be done to the boat to see the full benefit of them. I had two reef points put in the main instead of one. In order to reef our sail the slug stop has to come out to let two slugs past in order to get to the first reef grommet. So now I am making mast gates to do away with the slug stop. Once that is done I will set up the boom for single line reefing. I am sure once that is done I will want the main halyard and reefing line ran to the cockpit so I can raise the sail and reef without going forward. Once the whisker pole arrives I will have to mount it to the mast. So not only are the new sails creating more work but they are also costing us more money beyond the cost of the sails.
So would we do it again. Yes. We totally redone the boat and it is just too nice to be running 33 year old sails. Once your buried all you can do is sig a deeper hole. The boom in the cockpit was a safety issue. The increased performance is nice but not the whole reason we spent the money. Once we get everything set up with the reefing line and halyard ran to the cockpit it will be a much safer boat. I will be more likely to reef sooner and more often if it is easier and quicker. Plus it is just so much easier to sail now with the furler. No more wrestling the headsail on the foredeck or stuffing it in the jib bag.
So should you spend the money and get new sails? Personal call for you to make. I doubt we will see any monetary return on our investment if and when we sell the boat. Overall the new sails have really increased our enjoyment level of the boat and isn't that what it is all about? Now had I just known that Cindy did not mind sitting on the bow holding the boat hook as a whisker pole I could have saved a few bucks LOL!!!
If your really observant you noticed there is only one halyard on the mast. That is because the old jib halyard got hung up on the sheave block pulley when I was pulling the new halyard through and broke the connection. It was oversized to begin with and the thread I sewed them together with made it too tight. I will fish the new one when we drop the mast to head to Canada in July.
I wish we were sailing again today...
Sam
While the old sails moved the boat they were well past their prime. We could probably have sent them in a had the luff bolt rope cut and lengthened and the sails freshened up and bought a few more years but we really wanted a furler and a larger head sail. Plus I really wanted to get the foot of the main cut up at a different angle to get the boom out of the cockpit. Yes we could have had the headsail redone with luff tape and the main re cut to achieve the same results but considering we would have had probably more than half the cost of new sail in them to accomplish that we decided to bite the big one and get new sails.
We chose to go with Precision sails. Their price was the best we found and they seemed to do a really good job overall. They called me several times to discuss the changes and once to tell me due to the sheeting angles I should not try to run a 130 genoa. The designer said he would get me all he could as I did not want to add a new genoa track to the deck as we had no real good place to put it. He called back and said we could go with a 122. I chuckled as it was 8% off from what I wanted. Sounded good to me. It only gained us a little over a foot and a half in length on the foot of the headsail but it really seems to have made a difference.
We ordered early and got a discount for that and some other sale they were offering so both sails delivered were just shy of 1200. Our expected delivery date was Valentines day. We came home Saturday Dec 26th and our new sails were sitting in front of our front door! Seeing how we agreed these were supposed to be our Christmas gifts to each other it was very fitting. Of course I knew better and got the Admiral something just because we all know how women are with gifts given early LOL.
Precision sails called me a few weeks after delivery to follow up with us to make sure we were happy with our purchase. I had to inform her it was the middle of the winter and we had been busy skiing instead of sailing. She gave me her number and told me to call with any comments or concerns after the spring thaw. We shared a laugh and I agreed to do what she asked.
The snow finally melted and the furler came in. Everything rigged up just fine, once I got a new head stay. Our first impression was that the new sails sure were stiff! It was like folding cardboard. Even in the driveway with a gentle breeze they were noisy sails. We joked we would not be sneaking up on anyone on the lake with these.
We can't park in our slip till May 1st and the wait was painful as we missed several good sailing days in April. But the day finally came and we launched in between storms. Our first sail did not have very good wind so it was not far trial run but since then we have sailed in winds up to 30 mph. Here is what we have determined.
1. We, me, loves having the boom come off the mast at a 90 degree angle instead of hanging down in the cockpit. While we may have lost about 18" of main sail at the clew we sure can't tell it but I am very happy we chose to do that each time we tack and I don't have to duck. Plus it just looks so much better.
2. An extra foot and half on the head sail makes a big difference in how the boat handles in the moderate to stronger winds. If the new main sail made the boat less tender then the new head sail more than made up for what that gained us. Not a big deal as we can easily furl the head sail in some when the wind picks up, we just need to get used to doing that and probably do it a bit sooner than we have been. I am sure the more we sail the better we get at doing that sooner than later.
3. Yes, she is faster. Last year in similar winds the boat was typically at best 4.5 mph boat. Occasionally we would see the mid 5's but it was all she had. Now we are cruise more in the 5 to mid five range and it quickly accelerates to low to mid 6 range when we get a good breeze. Over 6.5 and the rudder is more of a brake and you better be ready for her to come around if you don't let the main sheet out. Reefing the head sail helps a lot to prevent that as well. Even with the first reef in the main the boat still scoots. Pointing is probably close to 10 degrees higher. We are still working with the best placement of the jib tracks to get the best angle into the wind. The headsail luffs first now and moving the roller forward a bit has gained us a few more degrees into the wind.
4. Downwind performance is much better with the larger headsail and tighter main but it needs help to achieve that. The headsail curls and flops around more now in light air on a run so we have resorted to using our boat hook as a whisker pole till our actual whisker pole arrives. Here is Admiral Cindy enjoying the ride last night.
View attachment 123864
We can't pole it out all the way as our pole is not strong enough but even still it is a huge improvement. We made one long run downwind to our slip last night in very light air and made better than 4 mph the whole way. Without the pole the headsail would have been constantly luffing and falling in on itself.
5. New sails mean more work needs to be done to the boat to see the full benefit of them. I had two reef points put in the main instead of one. In order to reef our sail the slug stop has to come out to let two slugs past in order to get to the first reef grommet. So now I am making mast gates to do away with the slug stop. Once that is done I will set up the boom for single line reefing. I am sure once that is done I will want the main halyard and reefing line ran to the cockpit so I can raise the sail and reef without going forward. Once the whisker pole arrives I will have to mount it to the mast. So not only are the new sails creating more work but they are also costing us more money beyond the cost of the sails.
So would we do it again. Yes. We totally redone the boat and it is just too nice to be running 33 year old sails. Once your buried all you can do is sig a deeper hole. The boom in the cockpit was a safety issue. The increased performance is nice but not the whole reason we spent the money. Once we get everything set up with the reefing line and halyard ran to the cockpit it will be a much safer boat. I will be more likely to reef sooner and more often if it is easier and quicker. Plus it is just so much easier to sail now with the furler. No more wrestling the headsail on the foredeck or stuffing it in the jib bag.
So should you spend the money and get new sails? Personal call for you to make. I doubt we will see any monetary return on our investment if and when we sell the boat. Overall the new sails have really increased our enjoyment level of the boat and isn't that what it is all about? Now had I just known that Cindy did not mind sitting on the bow holding the boat hook as a whisker pole I could have saved a few bucks LOL!!!
If your really observant you noticed there is only one halyard on the mast. That is because the old jib halyard got hung up on the sheave block pulley when I was pulling the new halyard through and broke the connection. It was oversized to begin with and the thread I sewed them together with made it too tight. I will fish the new one when we drop the mast to head to Canada in July.
I wish we were sailing again today...
Sam
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