Any Experiences with SailCare? Please Advise

[OrangeCrush]

I was thinking about having SailCare add another reef or two to the main of my Pearson 26, and maybe having them do their Lemauney sail restoration thing on it while I'm at it. Does anyone have experiences with them or know about their reputation? Is there anywhere else I should consider for getting those reef points put in? I considered doing it myself but I'm not sure I should take a chance of messing it up...

Additionally, where should I look to buy a new roller-furling genoa? Mine is beyond repair, I'm afraid, but my budget is limited. Where might I look for a well priced headsail for my boat? Any idea what I might expect to pay? Also I have a beautiful new laminate sail but I don't think it will work on my roller furl... or would it be worth going back to a hank-on rig? How would that work?

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated... Jack

[FSMike]

Quite a few years ago I met somebody who had had the Lemauney process done to one of their sails. I didn't see the sail but they professed to be quite happy with it.
You don't give your location, but any local sailmaker should easily be able to sew in some reef points.
There are several places that specialize in selling used sails, some of which are basically new. Try Bacon Sails (Bacon & Associates?). You will need the measurements you are looking for. Some recutting may be necessary but it can still be a lot cheaper than new sails.

[OrangeCrush]

Thanks for the reply. I am located in New York, NY.

I looked at Bacon Sails website as well as some of the other used sails vendors. That seems like a really good option for me if I can find something that works.

How exactly do I go about deciding what measurements I am looking for, and how much can the sail I buy deviate from that exact set of measurements? I have the dimensions from Pearson for the 130% genoa, but since I have that roller furl on it I want to make sure the luff would fit correctly. It is a Harken Furler... do they have a standard groove size or do I have to measure that too?

One thing I could do, of course, is measure the sail I want to replace and look for something identical. But again, how much can I deviate from its exact dimensions without affecting my performance, etc? I would like to avoid having to have them recut again afterwards...

Thanks again!

[FloridaWriter]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

I was thinking about having SailCare add another reef or two to the main of my Pearson 26, and maybe having them do their Lemauney sail restoration thing on it while I'm at it. Does anyone have experiences with them or know about their reputation? Is there anywhere else I should consider for getting those reef points put in? I considered doing it myself but I'm not sure I should take a chance of messing it up...

Additionally, where should I look to buy a new roller-furling genoa? Mine is beyond repair, I'm afraid, but my budget is limited. Where might I look for a well priced headsail for my boat? Any idea what I might expect to pay? Also I have a beautiful new laminate sail but I don't think it will work on my roller furl... or would it be worth going back to a hank-on rig? How would that work?

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated... Jack

They shrank a main I had. The Daron came back from them as stiff as brand new, but the luff and foot were about 2 inches shorter.

Good luck,

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by FloridaWriter

They shrank a main I had. The Daron came back from them as stiff as brand new, but the luff and foot were about 2 inches shorter.

Good luck,

But was your sail shape better and flatter?...I would think it would be worse if that was indeed the case which would be a big negative ...but if it was flatter and improved from their process that would be a big positive and far outweigh a 2" loss around the perimeter.

[FloridaWriter]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

But was your sail shape better and flatter?...I would think it would be worse if that was indeed the case which would be a big negative ...but if it was flatter and improved from their process that would be a big positive and far outweigh a 2" loss around the perimeter.

No, it wasn't flatter--the sail was not recut. The sail wasn't bagged out in the first place. I sent it to SailCare to clean the mildew and stains primarily.

It was simply shrunk a little. SailCare also did not get out all the stains, but they were much less obvious.

[elf]

On the Catalina 30 Yahoo group, someone recently had Sailcare shrink their main enough that the battens stuck out the leech!