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Hi All,

On the weekend, due to inexperience and general dumbness I tore what appears to be the original mainsail on my 85 Mk III.

(Next time when sailing downwind I'll tie a preventer before I do anything else and keep the wind away from dead astern ...)

In the Sutherland shire there are a couple of sailmakers, Ian Short is probably the closest to me.

I'd be grateful for a recommendation if anyone has recently been pleased with their new mainsail.

thanks,
Allen

Sorry to hear that Allen,

Send a PM to Auriga. I think Dan had replaced his sails recently with a firm at Mortlake, or Hunters Hill. He was very happy apparently.

Michael

I got a new heavy duty cruising main from Sail Solutions (Rolly Tasaker) last year at a cost of about $1200. I have had it out in 5 to 35 knots and have no complaints so far.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi Allen,

I recently purchased a new fully battened main through Keith Brown sailmakers at Mortlake........very competitively priced and very happy with the service....good old Aussie service

Regards

Mark

ps. $1900 for new main and No. 2 Genoa

as michael said, i got a new main, battened with 2 reefing points from sail solutions in woolwich for around $900

my main is not typical in size (my mast is about 1m higher than standard), from memory sam said that prices were going up due to material and labour costs in thailand so expect a little more

all round they are good guys and great service

dan

Barracouta Sails at Taren Point should be close to you, Allan.
He made a good mainsail for me a couple of years ago, but at $1200 he is dearer than other people have mentioned in this discussion.
Quality and service were A1.

Good luck

Hi All,

Many thanks for the advice and recommendations.

At this stage I have rough quotes of $2100 ; about $1500 to maybe $2000; and $1105.

The latter quote was from Sail Solutions at Woolwich which I've accepted.

Call me old fashioned but I just can't finalise the order (and pays the money) until I measure my old sail (just in case it is out by 6 inches).

There is a delivery delay and the production facility is in Thailand which made me pause and reflect, but the differential in cost for a small boat is too much to ignore.

Thanks once again for the assistance.

cheers,
Allen

My furling genoa is looking a bit tired and I decided to get a quote for replacement so I took it down and did a bit of measuring and then asked for quotes from a number of places. Sail solutions were by far the cheapest at about $1050, UK Halsey quoted $1534 and I also took the sail to Gemmell Sailmakers in Drummoyne and asked them to have a look at it for me. They agreed that it was tired, told me straight up that they were not able to match a Sail Solutions price and gave me a quote of $1700 with a possibility of reducing the price if I waited until the busy season was over.

I have decided to repair the tatty bits myself and keep it going for a while. The new sofa has made it to the top of the priority list!

When I do buy one I will more than likely go with Gemmell's for the simple reason that they are local and will measure everything up during the order process, and Ben Gemmell seems very capable and knew a mark 2 from a mark 3.

Hi All,

Here is a pic of the new main, me and the pink autopilot* out fishing in the terrible conditions we had last weekend on Botany Bay.

So far so good, it does appear to the naked eye that the new sail is a tiny bit smaller.

A higher res version is available by email if anyone wants it.

* Can't remember who first used the expression, but it still makes me laugh

cheers,
Allen

I'll put my hand up for Hood Sailmakers in Brookvale. They just repaired my furling #2. It only needed the UV cover doing, and a bit of a restitch here and there, plus the chaff patches. Total cost $340.

They've also quoted me on a lazy bag for the main at about $400, not much more than the standard cover. So that's on the cards too.

They're another "good old fashioned" company.

Michael