Did you read the reviews and the responses?
Anyway, I have all my sails from them and no issues either. Martin always seems to want to get things right. But, then again, some people are never satisfied and always will complain no matter what.
The joys of knowing who sews your sails
- Thread starter Jackdaw
- Start date
Anyway, I have all my sails from them and no issues either. Martin always seems to want to get things right. But, then again, some people are never satisfied and always will complain no matter what.
My perspective on this. I personally know probably a dozen sailmakers, guys who actually MAKE sails. Each one of them is frankly a little quirky in their own little way. Maybe its something in the air in the shop! ;^)
When you deal with a smaller shop you are dealing directly with the sailmaker. There is no insulation provided by a professional sales team. You have to take that into account, and choose the model you feel most comfortable with.
I don't race and the sails I got from Martin are 100% cruising. So far, so good.
But as with anything you buy, the more you know, the better you value you get. One of the advantages of spending about three hours on the phone (not all in one sitting) was that I was able to discuss the details, advantages and disadvantages of various options and select what I wanted. On some items I was persuaded to add, change or remove something on my list. That was of great value that you will not get from any off-shore place.
What's interesting about the negative commentary is that it was rebuffed and nothing more. If a solution had been worked out, it would only be fair to say so, but the two negative comments appear to have been replied to and that's it.
After all the commentary on this site, the two comments on the BBB should be completely and thoroughly discounted.
After all the commentary on this site, the two comments on the BBB should be completely and thoroughly discounted.
They made our Mac sails a few years back after a friend told me about them and they also did a trade on the headsail for the Endeavour where we got a sail better suited to our needs. Martin will really try to make you happy with good recommendations and we have been totally happy with the sails.
He is also a car and motorcycle guy like I am and we have spent way too much time on the phone talking about both
Sumner
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1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
When I learned that Somerset loft is a relatively short distance from me, I was intrigued. They are located on the south shore of Lake Ontario and in 30+ years of sailing on the Lake I had never heard of the loft. I thought that unusual.
I did a little digging and what I found was that folks are either very happy with him and his work or maybe not so much. He's been in business a long time, so the number of happy folks must outnumber the unhappy folks. He was characterized as an "old school" sailmaker who is known to have an opinion or two. The mixed reviews might simply reflect difference of opinions and personality more than anything else.
He is noted for being less expensive than the name brand lofts, part of that is due to lower marketing costs and living in upstate NY is pretty inexpensive, so his costs are likely lower than big city lofts and he can pass that savings on to the customer.
I did a little digging and what I found was that folks are either very happy with him and his work or maybe not so much. He's been in business a long time, so the number of happy folks must outnumber the unhappy folks. He was characterized as an "old school" sailmaker who is known to have an opinion or two. The mixed reviews might simply reflect difference of opinions and personality more than anything else.
He is noted for being less expensive than the name brand lofts, part of that is due to lower marketing costs and living in upstate NY is pretty inexpensive, so his costs are likely lower than big city lofts and he can pass that savings on to the customer.
An added factor for negative comments is that happy customers are not as likely to send reviews. Unhappy people generally have to tell everyone! Happy people are usually enjoying themselves.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,787
But then your beer froths uncontrollably.All the more reason "If your Happy and you Know It Clap Your Hands"
I agree, and unfortunately some customers are unreasonable (I’m stating “generally” not saying this was the case here). I’m thinking of this weeks news about LL Bean changing their warranty from “lifetime“ to 1 year, and the reasons for it.
On distance races I always rig my Asym on a pole with guys. to jibe, I ease the guy and tension the tack until sailing pole-less. Sometimes I need to head up enough to to do this without collapsing the spinnaker if sailing a deep angle. I then dip-pole and center the pole with both guys. Then I jibe the asym (inside on light day and outside on heavy day) to the other board and re-rig the pole and trim as needed. Too much work for around the buoy races but it works great on distance races.
Well done... that the ASOP procedure with a standard sized pole. The oversize pole lets the sail project better, and also (most importantly) keeps the tack clear of the bow pulpit. For everyone else interested, it looks like this:
It looks like a mess but its not really at all. One other handy trick... use a SS ring with an X in it to help keep all four lines attached to the tack from fouling each other.
Papillon is a C30 tall rig with bow sprit and I tack to the anchor roller which is in front of the pulpit. My pole is a 12-22 control-line whisker pole. It is banded at J so in races I cannot project it beyond that without penalty. I haven't tried seeing what happens if I extend it farther. I like the idea of the X-ring. It gets ugly sometimes with all the lines on the tack. With the ring I could rig everything before the race and then use a shackle to the tack an be done.