Help! We need a new main for our Catalina 25

[jmtraulsen94]

We are looking at buying a new main sail for our 1984 Tall Rig Catalina 25. With our current sail, the boom hangs extremely low in the cockpit while underway. We’d like to shorten our sail in order to raise the boom knowing we will lose some speed but gain sanity in not having people knock their heads every 5 minutes. It’s the easiest (and cheapest) option to buy a standard rig main but can we do that? Will a standard main fit on a tall rig or do we have to custom order a sail? Thanks for any tips you might have!

[Gudgeon]

Call a local sail make and discuss it with them. Looks like there is 2 feet difference a good sail make should be able to cut one down and make all the correct adjustments to keep the shape good.

[bstreep]

Ditto. Get a local sailmaker involved. The sail will be built somewhere overseas, but having a local sailmaker do the measuring is HUGE. I can't overstate that. It won't cost you much for the professional assistance, and it takes all of the questions out of the equation.

[ChrisJHC]

Originally Posted by bstreep

Ditto. Get a local sailmaker involved. The sail will be built somewhere overseas, but having a local sailmaker do the measuring is HUGE. I can't overstate that. It won't cost you much for the professional assistance, and it takes all of the questions out of the equation.

Agree re getting a local sailmaker.
Don’t agree with the assumption that the sail will be built overseas.
My local sailmaker makes his right there in his loft and is happy to walk you through the process as he does it.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

Agree re getting a local sailmaker.
Don’t agree with the assumption that the sail will be built overseas.
My local sailmaker makes his right there in his loft and is happy to walk you through the process as he does it.

Here in the US, it's extremely likely to be built somewhere else. Sailmakers here will check them for QC, and then finish them with their own touches. The sailmakers here stick to custom & high end jobs - they are just too busy to make Dacron sails.