Rolly Tasker Sails

[Ex-Calif]

I was in the loft a couple of times this year.

Mike pointed to about 20 completed sails in bags against one wall as we were talking about me maybe getting a new main (as opposed to being there for my brothers sail)

He told me they were a batch order of some kind for a club(?) anyway the order was not paid for and not collected so the sails were surplus. He offered to see if one of these sails could be recut at a really good price.

This may be where some of these stories about seconds come from.

It's a shame. Great loft, great folks. My brothers main is a huge gaff rig and they did a good job on the design and the manufacture.

[mikereed100]

So, Dirk of National Sails says no way RT uses seconds and that claims to the contrary are ludicrous. Island Planet has been to the loft and actually seen the rolls of seconds and further claims that RT is the largest buyer of seconds in the world. So, either Island Planet is mistaken, or RT is using seconds without Dirk's knowledge. Anybody heading over to the RT loft in the near future could help settle this by inspecting the rolls and reporting back here.

I have spent many hours at the loft in Phuket, wandering around looking at the operation and even checking out the sailcloth. I didn't see any red "second" stamps on the inside of the tubes, but this is unsurprising as I was not looking for them. I wish now that I had and could put this issue to rest one way or the other.

[NorthPacific]

So one of the biggest and most successfully lofts in the world leaves roles of seconds fabric in plane view, while allowing folks like me to wander around. Photos every place of the loft. One would expect the forums to be full of outraged punters demanding refunds for the ripped and deformed sails!

Strange how so many positive comments come across. Maybe the "rumour of crap material come from disgruntled competitors? Ayway I am sure that there are those that can affford the perfect sail. Me I drive a Toyota cause it is the best I can afford. When I can afford new sails I will have to give up on the idea on the Lambos and Rolls type Lofts and go for what I can afford. Did I mention that my boat is a 1985. Most of the gear is second hand and yes I get great use out of it.

Tasker makes a product that people buy because it is good value for their money. If they were not happy campers Tasker would be out of business not doing a roaring trade.

[dirkdig]

Well i have 4 of their sails on my heavy cat and i give them hell, all looking great and working well,happy customer here.

[tartanss]

Check out the website www. thesailsshop.com they have sails from Rolly Tasker at great prices. Shipping is arranged with UPS and no tax to the USA as they use Challenge sailcloth from US.

[Meriachee]

Originally Posted by NorthPacific

So one of the biggest and most successfully lofts in the world leaves roles of seconds fabric in plane view, while allowing folks like me to wander around. Photos every place of the loft. One would expect the forums to be full of outraged punters demanding refunds for the ripped and deformed sails!

Strange how so many positive comments come across. Maybe the "rumour of crap material come from disgruntled competitors? Ayway I am sure that there are those that can affford the perfect sail. Me I drive a Toyota cause it is the best I can afford. When I can afford new sails I will have to give up on the idea on the Lambos and Rolls type Lofts and go for what I can afford. Did I mention that my boat is a 1985. Most of the gear is second hand and yes I get great use out of it.

Tasker makes a product that people buy because it is good value for their money. If they were not happy campers Tasker would be out of business not doing a roaring trade.

Just got my new kite from Dirk, cut is great, sail looks fantastic, colors are bright, and it didn't explode the second it went up the stick.
Funny thing about these conversations, you hear as many seconds stories as you hear stories about seconds. If its that bad, where's the actual first hand experience? I thought as much.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Meriachee

Just got my new kite from Dirk, cut is great, sail looks fantastic, colors are bright, and it didn't explode the second it went up the stick.
Funny thing about these conversations, you hear as many seconds stories as you hear stories about seconds. If its that bad, where's the actual first hand experience? I thought as much.

One would not expect a new, bad sail, to disentigrate the first time out. How about a report on your kite 3 years from now after many uses.

[dirkdig]

Mine are 8 years old and looking great.

There is a real report.

[Celestialsailor]

Now that's a good report. I will be getting a new main and genny next year. For me it's a toss up between Hood sails and Pineapple sails. With sails, economy is on the back burner. Both lofts are US and Hood have their own looms.

[heres hoping]

the last set of new sails I bought was from taskers in perth great job and great service they refitted the mast and rigging truly great service don't know if they are still around as they aren't at their old address in henderson

[Joyful Noise]

I am looking at replacing 3 sails for my Shannon 38 cutter and am torn between Mack and National Sails. They appear to be using the same cloth but the price difference is around a third less from National Sails. Has anyone had any recent experience with the National Sails outfit in Florida?

[Meriachee]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

One would not expect a new, bad sail, to disentigrate the first time out. How about a report on your kite 3 years from now after many uses.

Ok, I'll even go one better, it's now 2016, fully three years after this comment, I've crafted a top down furler for it, and here's the video of the first test. The sail still hasn't exploded, the working whites still haven't exploded, and while these are not see through racing sails, they are very workable and I'd not hesitate to buy them again.
https://youtu.be/2GeKjkp0bzA
Cheers
Gary

[klaus53123]

Originally Posted by Joyful Noise

I am looking at replacing 3 sails for my Shannon 38 cutter and am torn between Mack and National Sails. They appear to be using the same cloth but the price difference is around a third less from National Sails. Has anyone had any recent experience with the National Sails outfit in Florida?

I am also in the process of buying a new headsail. But whilst I am waiting for the Mack quote since days now, I got the RT quote from Dirk on the same day when I requested for.

My five cents on the "seconds": find it hard to belive that a sailmaker who is amongst the world top three largest sailmakers runs the risk of using second material. Assuming (and this is little more than good guess) that material is 50 percent of the total cost, they can save so much more mones on labor than on seconds.

I will now wait for the Mack (and a few other) quotes and will then take a decision.... Will let you know