Is this price correct for new sails?

[Reginald Bknham]

I found this on another thread.
I'm looking at 65 foot Cat.

Originally Posted by Stumble

Think of it this way, on a 70' cat a new mainsail is likely to be north of $50,000usd and last 5-7 years. By itself this adds $7-10,000 to the annual operating cost even if you don't replace it every year. A new Jib is probably around $25,000, so 3,500-5,000/ year. So on a $800,000 boat that works out to 10-15k, or 1.25%-1.8% the cost of the boat every year for sails alone.

[Jim Cate]

Sails can be made in a wide variety of styles, materials and qualities... and hence prices. But you get up into large boats, especially catamarans, the less expensive modes don't work well because the stresses are so very high.

So, yeah, the price range that Greg suggested isn't wrong... it might even be a bit low if one wants high tech sails. Seems like our Dockhead spent around that sort of money for new sails for a Moody 54, and a 65 foot cat would almost certainly be dearer.

To a first approximation, the old saw about 'if you have to ask, you can't afford it" applies here!

Jim

[Paul Elliott]

But since cats apparently motor all the time, the sails will last much longer!

Seriously, that $50k price for a mainsail sounds about right, but you might be able to cut that down a bit. I recently got new main and genoa for my 44' boat, and the quotes for the main were between 5K and 10K, depending on the material and finish details. These were for cruising-style laminates or high-tech woven fabrics. There were more expensive sail options that I did not get quoted.

A sail for a 70' boat might have about 250% the area of a sail for mine, so that puts you near the $25k price. Higher-end sails could double that.

[Jim Cate]

A sail for a 70' boat might have about 250% the area of a sail for mine, so that puts you near the $25k price. Higher-end sails could double that.
__

It's not just a matter of sail area. The much larger sail requires heavier or stronger (both more expensive) fabrics. The inherent stiffness of cats also increases the loads imparted to the sail... lots of reasons that the price tag skyrockets on big multihull sails.

Jim

[Stumble]

That $50,000 price was for a new 3dl delivery main on an Andrews 70. With a 105' mast I remember correctly. Because of the weight of sails this large Dacron is almost never used. The price for a new carbon racing main was substantially more. For a 70' Cat I would consider $50,000 a good place to start, but $100,000 wouldn't suprize me at all.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by Stumble

That $50,000 price was for a new 3dl delivery main on an Andrews 70. With a 105' mast I remember correctly. Because of the weight of sails this large Dacron is almost never used. The price for a new carbon racing main was substantially more. For a 70' Cat I would consider $50,000 a good place to start, but $100,000 wouldn't suprize me at all.

Of course, excellent point. I got a $12k bid for a 450 sq ft full-batten main in DP GPL GraphX (carbon fiber / taffeta) but no doubt the cloth weight (and cost) would be greater in a much larger sail, total cost significantly beyond my simple area-multiplying calculation result.

[Stumble]

The main sail on the 70' is about 1250sq ft. Even assuming you pay for sails by the area, that pushes this sail to $40,000.

But it's worse than that, think about the battens alone. You almost have to use carbon because of the loads involved. White an E (length of the boom) of 27' your first batten is something like a 24' long, tapered carbon pultruded rod. By itself it probably costs $3-4,000. I wasn't involved in the purchasing, just the breaking of the gear so I am guessing on the numbers.

Also go price out some big boat deck hardware for the fun of it. We used either custom blocks from Harken or their 150mm blocks depending on where. The 150mm standard block is $1,200 a pop. The halyards were all 12mm endurabraid at $5/ft.

Don't get me wrong I loved sailing this beast, and reflect back on my time aboard fondly. But feeding the budget on a boat this size is a very expensive proposition. Here the op is looking at a Cat not a monohull, so loads are if anything going to be higher, and costs even more expensive.

[alctel]

I thought 5k for a new main for me was high, yikes!!

[reed1v]

Folks do not realize how expensive a large boat can be. Try replacing the standing rigging. Sails and rigging for a 60 footer will run around $75,000-$150,000. Again, depending on options. Of course if you go with mylar and rod rigging, perhaps $200,000. And that is every 7 or so years.

[SpiritofGlenans]

As far as I'm concerned, that's definitely a first world problem

[northiceman]

You must contact MACK sails in Stuart Florida - they are the best and I have purchased in Canada and the US in the past. I also researched Hood, North Sails and many sailmakers in Asia at the time.
I bought my original sails (main and mizzen in Canada (Quebec City-and got ripped by the price))-good sails but the cost was almost double what they would have cost me at Mack in Florida (including Can-US exchange rates). I bought my 640 sq ft Genoa and Jib sail at MACK and they were the best quality I have ever seen. Been using that Genoa for 19 years and it (and the Jib sail) are still almost like new !

They can be reached at...

Phone:+1 772-283-2306

Good luck.

[nauticalnomad]

I just paid 16600 usd for a new main and foresail made of Hydranet for a 45ft boat

[FollowingCs]

Sails for a 52 footer (75 ft mast height) ran $23k in 2011. (9.77 oz Nat Dacron mainsail & cradle cover (stack pack), 10.77 oz Nat Dacron genoa)

Rigging was $10k.

~ Following Cs ~

[SailorGerry]

Reginald - I have a current bid in hand (from a top brand sailmaker) for a 46 monohull with a 665 sq. ft. Main, w/5 full batten, 2 reefs, RBS battens, luff side leech cord, sail #'s, insignia, all hardware, & bag. The price in 10.5 oz cruise Dacron is $7500, cruise laminate is $8200, while the light weight Technora laminate is $12000.
Problem is, those numbers aren't scale-able to your application, and are therefor useless for doing your analysis. Since there are so many good sailmakers' in the Seattle/PNW area, do yourself a favor and contact them.

[Juho]

Yearly cost depends also on whether you need new top quality racing sails every second year, or if old slightly baggy (but long lasting) cruising sails are enough.