Association Forum - Ullman sails review

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Ullman sails review

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Esteban
Navigator

Member Avatar

139 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/05/2005 : 17:37:20

Ladies et Gents,

Im considering buying a head sail from Ullman Sails through Catalina Direct.

Any reviews or commentaries out there? Anyone happy or displeased with the quality? Many thanks for the input.

Esteban

Esteban Diaz
Tally Ho!

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2005 : 17:54:43

No need to use Catalina Direct, go direct to Gary Swenson at Ulman/Ventura. He made my 135 roller sail. I love the sail and the service. Price was very reasonable.

Gary is on the Ulman web site. Give him a call.

Edited by - on

allencl
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
143 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2005 : 18:55:01

Just completed the 4th season on an Ullman 135 RF headsail that was made for us on the east coast (Ralph Skelley & Max Skelley in Havre De Grace, MD). I'm no racer, but it's an excellent sail from my cruiser's perspective. That was a local loft for us at that time, with all of the personal contact w/ the sailmaker that comes along with that. I really like the Skelleys and would recommend them if you're in the area.

An interesting comparison for me, though, is that we just finished a first season w/ an Airforce mainsail that was ordered on-line and I have to say I'm just as happy and their prices were lower. If we were still in the mid-Atlantic area, I would have gone w/ the Ullman / Skelley loft just out of loyalty to the family business. But since we had moved recently I thought I'd try Airforce and the service was excellent along with the product.

I've heard lots of good things on this site about Gary Swenson, FWIW.

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2005 : 19:26:13

I bought an Ullman 135 roller furling headsail through Catalina Direct. I do not like the fact that CD put a huge Catalina Direct logo on the sail. When I buy an Ullman full batten main in the future I will deal direct with Gary Swenson at Ullman.
Otherwise, the headsail is very heavy duty and appears to be well made.

Edited by - on

Esteban
Navigator

Members Avatar

139 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2005 : 20:53:57

Frank,

Just how big a logo did they put on the sail, and is that in addition to the Ullman logo? Add an Exxon and Tide logo and call is a NASCAR boat...? Thanks for the info.

Jim,

Thanks for the tip - I just sent Gary Swensen an e-mail. By the way, was that your article in Mainsheet about the cruise to Channel Islands?

Esteban

Edited by - on

Charlie Vick
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
423 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2005 : 21:39:14

When I bought my main this is what I thought about the service and Gary;

"After reading through the many threads on here about mains for the past year I came to the decision to get mine from Ullman Sails. I called Gary monday morning with the specs and options I was looking for in a main and he had exactly what I wanted in stock. He told me he could get it out to me the next day though I waited till wednesday to order, so I could have had it for this weekend. A fully battened, 2 reef points, added roach, loose footed, cunnigham, at 6.53oz with logo and numbers, main and a custom sunbrella cover were $924, the sail alone being $734. I should have it by next tuesday and on the boat friday so I'll let you know about the performance the next monday. I just wanted to say with the service and attention the Gary gave me throughout the ordering process I am already happy about my decision to go with Ullman Sails. When you call out there (Ventura CA) you always get Gary not some receptionist or flunkie so your information is firsthand to him and not lost in translation somewhere and he is very knowlegable about C25's. He took whatever anxieties I had about getting the right sail and easily laid them to rest.
I just wanted to tell you this especially for those who are considering a new sail now because I know how intimidating it can be with all the different manufacturers and options available, Gary Swenson made it a breeze. I am looking foreward to doing business with him again and would recommend Ullman to anyone who asks."

(Edited to take out whiney-baby stuff!)

Edited by - Charlie Vick on 01/06/2005 13:14:19

JimB517
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 00:08:46

Yes, they only cut the article a little. You can see all the photos at http://www.indiscipline.org/cat25/indyIII.html Click on Cruise 2004

Edited by - on

gnorgan
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
563 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 00:47:18

Sails I've bought from Gary Swenson, Ventura:

Catalina 22 racing main
Catalina 22 racing 150 mylar genoa
Sold the C22 when we moved up to the C25
Gary Swenson took these sails back in partial payment for the C25 sails I wanted because buyer of the C22 did not want racing sails (too bad, they were fast!!!). He was very good about doing this trade, something I don't think he really needed to do but he knew of a potential buyer.
Catalina 25 cruising main
Catalina 25 furling 150 genoa
Catalina 25 furling 110 jib
Main sail cover
Tiller cover

Always talked directly with him on the phone, never a pressure sale, got them quickly and for a fair price. Workmanship seems to be excellent....no complaints so far.

Edited by - on

matsche
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
280 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 09:17:26

Ordered a full batten, loose footed main 2 years ago and a heavy weather jib last year. Both were of excellent quality and I found Gary to be very knowledgable and helpful. As a side, Ullman sails are the OEM for [url="http://www.pacificseacraft.com/cgi-bin/printview.php?3112"]Pacific Seacraft[/url], one of the highest quality production blue water boat manufacturers in the states.

Edited by - on

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 09:38:23

Ullman/Gary...true gems and producers of fine quality sails. I've used their services since'92. First purchased a new sail when I bought Calista. The PO said it was a standard rig and so I ordered a new main from them and when I ran it up the pole I discovered I had purchased a tall rig. On bended knee I called Gary and told him of my mistake and was told to just return it with X # of dollars to make up the difference between the two sails. No proble

I've since bought a full battened main and ran it loose footed with the regular outhaul slide and it has had no problems the past four years. Last year bought a 150 furling genoa with foam luff. Great sail great service.

Thy them you'll like them.

Val on the hard DAGNABIT

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 09:49:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Charlie Vick
 Ironic, I was just complaining about Ulman in another thread.
...I hope there's just a problem with communication between us because I really like his sails...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

What is/was the complaint?

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 12:23:34

For those of you who are considering other than Ullman sails, I have had the same good experience with North sails. My feeling is that when dealing with Dacron sails, the main selling point is customer service. All else is equal.

For those of you who are interested, I just read that UK Sails and Doyle, two of the big names in the industry, are merging this spring.

Al
GALLIVANT #5801

Edited by - on

bear
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
909 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 12:42:08

Doyle sails of Lake Champlain is putting a new 110 jib together for me with ultra-violet protection and tell-tales, price was $654 not including shipping or tax. They also will be adding a second reef point on the main for $150 and washing the main for $60.00. Ullman/Ventura sails was more expensive for the jib and I was not sure about shipping costs from California to New York. "Bear" C250

Edited by - on

Charlie Vick
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
423 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 13:31:12

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dlucier
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Charlie Vick
 Ironic, I was just complaining about Ulman in another thread.
...I hope there's just a problem with communication between us because I really like his sails...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

What is/was the complaint?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
No complaint now. I got in touch with Gary this morning and it seems they wouldn't put his calls through to me here at work (I just had a stern talk with our receptionist) and our firewall was preventing his e-mail to get to me (another stern talk to the IS dept).
Just ordered a 5oz dacron 150 and placed an order to have a 6.5oz dacron 110 built since they didn't have any in stock.
I was being a whiny-baby last night and I retract everything I said, except the good stuff. Deleted the post on the other thread and edited the post on this one to take out the whiny-baby parts and beg Garys forgivness!

Edited by - on

Ben - FL
Admiral

Members Avatar

880 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2005 : 15:36:19

It's all good. After reading about the reacher/drifter Arlyn posted I opted for one also to take to the Bimini Islands on Chick-a-pea. No fuss, no muss! Love the sail too!

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.