Rolly Tasker Sails

[mikereed100]

I got a new main and 100% jib for my Catalina 30 a couple years ago and have been very happy with the cut and workmanship. I do have 2 beefs (beeves?) however. They used a large stainless D-ring for the jib's tack so that it is hard to get a tight wrap on the furler. Also, they used cheap plastic lugs on the main and the top ones tend to deform and pull out of the track. I wish I had kept my old ones or specified stainless.

[sneuman]

Quality is excellent. I had the pleasure of visiting their loft in Phuket a few years ago. An amazing operation. Bear in mind that a lot of sailmakers around the world simply rebrand RT sails and charge a surcharge for the logo change. You can find cheaper sails (in Hong Kong, for example), but I think RT is a lot of bang for the buck.

[Sophia1]

I am really sorry to say that we had a very bad experience with Rolly Tasker and National Sail. We received sails with a number of defects that even Mike Tasker said were the result of manufacturing. However, if we wished to have this rectified, Rolly Tasker said that they would replace the sails at "special price." Dirk from National Sail US is the rep for Tasker and he was even taken aback by this response. When Dirk asked for some back up support - we all heard nothing.

[Sophia1]

It is always interesting to me see how a company can go from one that cares about its consumers to one that doesn't. We bought a main and genoa from National and Rolly Tasker sails a few months ago and there was no question that there were defects. We sent pictures etc. and Mike Tasker agreed that there appeared to be some manufacturing issues. To my surprise and the US distributor, National Sail, Tasker said he would replace the sails but only at a "special price." National Sail asked for some clairfication and support on this from Rolly Tasker - we never heard nothing. Buyer beware.

ROSMOND
Maple Bay, BC

[Sophia1]

After reading many positive comments on Rolly Tasker sails and National Sail Supply in Florida, we bought a genoa, main and a sail cover this summer. The sails were creased haphazardly and in some spots the creases were so deep that there were pinholes through the sail. Pictures were sent to National Sails and Rolly Tasker. Tasker admitted after seeing the pictures that there was some manufacturing issues. He said if we didn't like the sails Rolly Tasker would give us a "special price" on replacement. Dirk at National Sail Supply was surprised by this response and said he counted on his supplier to back up his product. Nothing more was heard. Rolly Tasker are not what they used to be.

[Capn Morgan]

In this thread some of you said they had new sails from RT in Phuket and some, that they would buy again from them. What has your experience been with these new sails?

Hanging around in Phuket the most common comment I hear is that they are amazingly consistent, but in their bad quality. My only problem with this is that none of the people that said this had first hand experience with their sails, it was all second hand or heard in the grapevine.

I would be interested to know from those of you who have them, if only to dispel a myth. Can they really be that big and that bad at the same time?

[haulback]

Guess I might have to try to get as fat as Capetown before getting new sails. Unless there are other options in Thailand or vicinity.

Jim/Haulback

[engele]

I have an excellent quality new Genoa from them and just ordered a new main. All of the construction details are top notch in my view. On our new main we were able to specify the type of batten receptacles, and slides at no additional charge. So far I am very happy with our new sail. Enough so that I bought a new main. We bought through thesailwarehouse.com in CA.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by gonesail

i wish i could support the local sailmakers but the price is double what dirk charges at national sails (rolly tasker). i am going to order an RF working jib later this year .. hope all goes well.

Are you sure about that price difference? My quotation from Rolly Tasker for a main was $1488 including $188 for shipping. I was quoted almost the same price by Doyle and ended up paying slightly less for the main from a local loft, Leading Edge, that still makes them here locally and came out to measure the boat.

Have you had actual quotes for double the price?

[Pacey16]

I purchased a jib recently and was very pleased with the quality, service and cost. I had to get a small mod done due to my wrong measurement which they did quickly at no charge. I hope I am in Phuket when I need more sails.
Will be interesting to see how well the sail lasts as they claim this new dacron from the USA "does not stretch"

[svBeBe]

We were in Phuket about a year ago and had Rolly Tasker repair 3 sails and make a snuffer for our mizzen asymmetrical sail. We also had new "lower" lifelines custom made in their rigging shop. We met Mike Tasker and some of the staff including Ms. Nok who supervised our repair. Their sail loft in Phuket is the largest in the world and very impressive. Their inventory of sailcloth and rigging is very impressive.

Our sail repair and lifeline fabrication was done on-time and the quality of the work was performed was excellent.

BTW, the GM, Mike Tasker, is not related to Rolly. Rolly is frequently in Phuket, but has operations in Australia which take some of his time. Contact email for Mike is "Mike Tasker" <gm@rollytasker.com>.

One other thing we really liked was their courtesy flags which were made out of sailcloth which does not disintegrate because of UV...check these out before you buy others.

Bill

[islandplanet]

Originally Posted by haulback

Guess I might have to try to get as fat as Capetown before getting new sails. Unless there are other options in Thailand or vicinity.

Jim/Haulback

Jim,

We service customers worldwide. If you're concerned about getting screwed by customs in Thailand and were a customer of ours, I'd suggest the lovely and duty-free port of Langkawi. Another advantage of Langkawi is the lovely and talented sailmaker friend of ours Erja who is based there. She is very adept at getting repairs done in a competent manner and conveniently located in Kuah.

Rolly Tasker is one of the largest buyers of factory seconds (aka manufacturer rejects so caveat emptor). We saw one spinnaker that was made from what appeared to be tent fabric. Hopefully Sophia has had some luck in getting her problems remedied.

[islandplanet]

Originally Posted by Pacey16

I purchased a jib recently and was very pleased with the quality, service and cost. I had to get a small mod done due to my wrong measurement which they did quickly at no charge. I hope I am in Phuket when I need more sails.
Will be interesting to see how well the sail lasts as they claim this new dacron from the USA "does not stretch"

If you believe there is a Dacron that doesn't stretch then I have a great deal on a bridge for you.....;-)

[Pacey16]

Islandplanet, No offcourse I didnt believe them but the fabric looks very good for the cost. All sail material stretchs even the 5 yo contender cruise laminate sails I have are stretched a bit.
Thats why I said it would be interesting to see how well it would last up. I'll let you know if your still around.

[islandplanet]

Originally Posted by Pacey16

Islandplanet, No offcourse I didnt believe them but the fabric looks very good for the cost. All sail material stretchs even the 5 yo contender cruise laminate sails I have are stretched a bit.
Thats why I said it would be interesting to see how well it would last up. I'll let you know if your still around.

Funny, most of the laminates we work with shrink over time rather than stretch. I don't use much stuff from Contender. Most of our material comes from Challenge and Dimension Polyant.

In any case, I don't do business with anyone who lies to me. I figure if they lie to me about one thing, what else are they going to lie about. Anyone calling themselves a sailmaker may explain how a high quality woven product like Marblehead as an example, will not stretch as quickly or as to a great extent as a lesser product like regular high modulus, but they shouldn't just outright lie about the stuff.