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Catalina 25 Specific Forum

A great sail repair

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5376 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/05/2012 : 10:35:34

As some of you may recall I was investigating whether to replace the sacrificial strip or replace the entire genoa on Passage. I originally looked at several on-line services, and also inquired at North Sails in Milford CT (about 8 miles from my home) about it, and got some numbers like $550 for the repair plus $300 for a cleaning and touch up of my sails.

At that price, I started thinking about purchasing a replacement jib from North Direct's pre-made sails. The material is ok, but not premium dacron, and they use sunbrella fabric for the strip, which is fine.

A fellow asked me whether I knew of that little sail repair shop in Stratford and I said, "why no, never even noticed it".

He said, "yeah, you know its down the street from the diner, across from the drugstore." I said, "still getting nothing"

He said, "I can't remember the name of it, but it's over on such and such street, check it out" So I did.

That little sail shop is the world headquarters of Neil Pride sails (I have one for my 16 footer), and the repair guy is Gene Sutton. He's been written up glowingly on several sailing forums.

I took my sails to him and asked for an eyeball and a quote. He said that aside from the strip and some of the stitching, the sails are in great shape, they are nice substantial material and would take a little TLC and elbow grease to get back into shape.

So today he gave me a price about 1/2 of what I was planning to spend to fix the genny and clean up the main. And he'll have it next week!

I said "no problem - let's do it" If anybody local is interested, please let me know on email, or just google Mr. Sutton. I can be reached on bruce2sail at america online dot com.

btw, I get no commission or discount for mentioning, just happy to do business with a good guy.

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2012 : 11:45:27

Good deal!

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Voyager
 ...I started thinking about purchasing a replacement jib from North Direct's pre-made sails. The material is ok, but not premium dacron, and they use sunbrella fabric for the strip,...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My off the shelf North Sails Direct genoa came stock with a Dacron UV cover.

From their website...

UV LEECH & FOOT COVERS

North Sails Direct Roller Furling stock Catalina and Ensign sails are featured with a 5 oz. white Dacron UV Leech and Foot. All stock sails are featured with the UV Leech and Foot Cover on the Port Side of the sail.

Edited by - on

Chakana
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2012 : 13:03:16

Wow that sounds like a great deal.
As a comparison.
Our boat has 3 original sails. Main, 150 ish, and 100 ish. (never have raised them yet--bought the boat last fall--PO not sure on sizes). These are hank on sails.
They looked to be in good repair, just old.
Sent them to Sailcare, who did their restoration process along with a few minor repairs, adding telltales, sewing back some loose areas on the numbers.
Just received them back a few days ago. They look like new! All bright, white and crisp. Total with shipping $591.00
Sailcare was a pleasure to work with also.

Edited by - on

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2012 : 13:33:01

Ballard Sails (Seattle) took great care of us on some sail repairs. They restitched the leech on our genoa and did a major patch on the head of our main (replacing about 6 small patches) all for under $100.

They are also making us a new main (also for an excellent price), so the repair price might have been lower as a favor. They just offered to do as much as they could for a fixed budget.

Based on my limited experience I'll shop with them again.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3465 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2012 : 15:23:38

Bruce, Great news ! Not sure what the best deal is ? The 1/2 cost or getting it back in one week ! At this time of the year, one week is fantastic !

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JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2012 : 19:59:51

Yeah, I'm really jealous of the 1 week turn-around. I called SailCare earlier this week to get an idea of their turn-around time - 4-6 weeks, just for a cleaning. So, I decided not to use them at this time (end of the season will be another story). Now I just need to figure out where I can wash the sails at home!

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2012 : 20:50:43

I think Sailcare had both my main & 110 jib for more than three months each time. I've sent them in around November and get them back in late January or February. Of course this is during their fall sale, but it's not like we're going to be out sailing during the winter anyway.

However, I've been quite pleased with their work.

Edited by - on

bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1776 Posts

Response Posted - 04/07/2012 : 06:37:29

Bruce's shop is a real find, especially for those of us in the northeast. I have found several sail lofts who do cleaning and stitch repairs reasonably, however replacing uv protection or more serious sail modifications seem to really differentiate lofts. Ad to that any shipping or distance traveling and repairs can get pricey. With a previous boat (27ft) I bought an almost new hank on headsail from Atlantic Sail traders in Florida and got quotes to modify for a furler with the price range delta being close to a grand! Some clearly like to make and sell new while others cater to those on budgets and like to mend/fix.

I have wondered if we should ad a page to list sailmakers members have used and liked or really had issues with as a reference

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hewebb
Admiral

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USA
761 Posts

Response Posted - 04/08/2012 : 02:50:53

I took my 150 to Mariner sails in Dallas and they did a good job for me replacing the UV cover and a couple of minor repairs at a fair price. Sail was ready in a week.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/08/2012 : 06:16:02

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Chakana
 Our boat has 3 original sails. Main, 150 ish, and 100 ish. (never have raised them yet--bought the boat last fall--PO not sure on sizes).<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Chakana,

To determine the percentage of your headsails, measure the Luff Perpendicular (LP) of the sail (shortest distance from the clew to the luff) then divide that number by 10.5 (C25 J dimension).

For example say your LP equals 15.75 feet. Divide that by 10.5 and you get 1.5 or 150%.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5376 Posts

Response Posted - 04/13/2012 : 21:12:18

Just got my sail back and he put on the new heavy duty UV protection and stitched up some problems. The look almost better than new. We talked for a while today - he said he's been in the business for 50 years. He got started going to Dartmouth but he lost interest. Came from a sailing family so he took a job at a loft nearby a lotta years ago. Has been in his own business for 25 years. He said he'll be manning the booth at the upcoming Milford harbor Sailfest in May. My US Power squadron group will also have a booth. Should be great.

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