Re: NSS
I wouldn't recommend National Sails. Dirk stiffed me for $50 shipping and the sail that I received is useless. Very poor quality.
Sorry to hear that about Dirk. I have purchased 8 sails over a ten year period from him and had zero issues. I also consider myself a very picky customer. Dirk has exceeded my expectations and the sails are very high quality.
My recommedation is Sail Warehouse from California. Awesome service and very high quality sails. My full batten main from them has incredible shape after five years.
http://thesailwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=storeframe.html&cart_id= Check them out before you order. Ask for Jim, he is very familiar with all Catalinas. Sean
It's very interesting to hear you say the quality of Sail Warehouse is "very high quality" yet National Sail Supply has "very poor quality" as both lofts are Rolly Tasker resellers. Unless you ordered a custom made sail for your Catalina 30 the sail most likely came from Rolly Tasker in Phuket, just as Dirk's sails do. Same loft, same materials different dealers..
Here's a quote directly from the Sail Warehouse Site about Tasker sails:
"stock sails are made by Rolly Tasker Sails who are one of the biggest and best sailmakers in the industry"
A little more on NSS:
Dirk used to work for Rolly Tasker in Phuket and was his general manager at the largest sail loft in the world. He decided to move back to Florida and open his own sail business selling and importing, from Rolly, all his sails.
The sails are made of US woven Challenge sail cloth which is basically the same cloth, coming off the same machines as NorDac, North Sails "proprietary" Dacron. How do I know this? My local sail maker got a batch of Challenge hi modulus and it was accidentally packaged in NorDac wrapping.. Doh.. oops...!
Another thing about Rolly Tasker sails is that they build cruising sails for LOTS and LOTS of the big name companies here in the states. I promised Dirk that I would not disclose who RT builds for, and I don't know them all either, so I won't, but you would be horrified if you knew even a few, trust me.
If you think your small loft is actually building your sail you may be wrong as Dirk & Tasker also supply many local small time guys who sub out the cruising sail business through Dirk.
I ordered a new main this winter for my CS-36 and this was my eighth NSS sail. My sail is triple stitched, my old North is double, my Tasker sail has a solid riveted head board the North does not, my reef points are built to an off shore standard the North sail was not, my tack & clew reinforcements are built for off shore use and my old North are clearly coastal, my batten pockets are more secure, better designed and adjustable, my clew and tack are both hand finished and stitched in UV resistant leather.
Both sails look to have been designed on the same computer system. I'm sure before the North gave up the ghost had a shape similar to the RT sail.
My new sail with top two battens full, draft stripe, logo, 8.3 oz Challenge cloth, two reef points, shipping and a brand new Sunbrella sail cover was $1713.00 delivered. The old North was $3400.00, coastal built, and no sail cover and that was more than ten years ago....
If anyone in Maine is going to be near Falmouth you are welcome to see this sail. I can't speak highly enough of the Rolly Tasker / National Sail Supply quality.
Dirk has the inside scoop and as Rolly's ex general manager (running the largest sail loft in the world) knows a thing or two about the business. I assume, because of this, he gets better pricing than just about any other Tasker dealer but don't know that for sure. What I do know is that I have compared the specs from other US Tasker dealers and Dirk includes more for less..
This is not a one time deal for me I have purchased CD-27 sails C-30 & C-36 sails and now CS-36 sails all have been spot on and incredibly priced.
Like anything companies can make mistakes and no one is perfect.
I would like to know some more specifics of the above case with NSS. Why is the sail useless? What poor quality problems did you find? What were the circumstances around the shipping incident?
