FX Sails - Recommendations ??

[oldragbaggers]

We just requested quotes for a new suit of sails from three different sailmakers. There was a wild variation in the prices. I am sure there are differences in the quality as well, but as we are not planning to do much offshore sailing we don't need to go high end, heavy duty cruising sails. The most reasonable of the three, with the discount to CDSOA members included was FX Sails. We had never heard of them but got their name off of the CDSOA website so was wondering if any of you have purchased their sails and if so are you satisfied with the quality.

Thanks!!

[Ron M.]

I received good service and price from national sail in fl. Got a well made 130 from them. Sunbrella protection, foam luff, perfect fit
Also others I know were pleased with quality, price, service, from the sail warehouse in Ca.

[Frenchy]

Lance & Becky- I bought a new set of FX sails for my previous boat, a Cal27, and was very happy with them. Well constructed and well fitted. I had purchased the main with full battens and a Tides Marine slide system. The Tides Marine system was very good
at what it did (reduce friction), but it added weight to the sail and increased the stack height considerably.
For my CD 33, I ordered a new main and jib from Mack Sails with conventional battens. I haven't received these yet. -Jean

[oldragbaggers]

Lance & Becky- I bought a new set of FX sails for my previous boat, a Cal27, and was very happy with them. Well constructed and well fitted. I had purchased the main with full battens and a Tides Marine slide system. The Tides Marine system was very good
at what it did (reduce friction), but it added weight to the sail and increased the stack height considerably.
For my CD 33, I ordered a new main and jib from Mack Sails with conventional battens. I haven't received these yet. -Jean

Thanks for the reply, Jean.

I have not checked with Mack Sails. I will be interested to know how your sails came out from them. Perhaps I should get a quote from them also. Did you order these sails online or was it a local loft?

[Frenchy]

Yes, I ordered online, but also confirmed some dimensions by telephone. The price was reasonable and I am getting a Mack-Pack,
something I've also wanted. It isn't attached to the sail like some versions of the Doyle Stack-Pack.
The company has a good reputation and Travis, my contact at Mack Sails, is knowledgeable and helpful. Hope this helps.- Jean

[Bibster]

I ordered a set of sails from Bacon Sails in Annapolis a couple of years ago and I am very pleased with them. The price was very competitive, the quality is excellent, and they were great to work with -- so much so that I actually took a part-time job with them a few months ago. Their sails are made in the same factory that makes sails for Quantum, North sails and several other lofts and they have a function on their website where you can get an immediate quote for a set of sails, so you can easily compare their prices with everybody else's. According to the search I did, a main with two reefs, full battens and hardware and cunningham would set you back $2289.66, and a 135 percent roller-furling genoa would cost $1897.33 (the price includes a Sunbrella sun cover). The prices of both sails varry depending on what other extras you want or if you decrease/increase the percentage of the genny. The app is located at this link (don't worry about the company "spamming" you with emails after you run the app; although it asks for your name and email, nobody actually collects that information): http://baconsails.com/sailquoter -- and, for the record, I don't get paid on a commission basis.

[oldragbaggers]

I ordered a set of sails from Bacon Sails in Annapolis a couple of years ago and I am very pleased with them. The price was very competitive, the quality is excellent, and they were great to work with -- so much so that I actually took a part-time job with them a few months ago. Their sails are made in the same factory that makes sails for Quantum, North sails and several other lofts and they have a function on their website where you can get an immediate quote for a set of sails, so you can easily compare their prices with everybody else's. According to the search I did, a main with two reefs, full battens and hardware and cunningham would set you back $2289.66, and a 135 percent roller-furling genoa would cost $1897.33 (the price includes a Sunbrella sun cover). The prices of both sails varry depending on what other extras you want or if you decrease/increase the percentage of the genny. The app is located at this link (don't worry about the company "spamming" you with emails after you run the app; although it asks for your name and email, nobody actually collects that information): http://baconsails.com/sailquoter -- and, for the record, I don't get paid on a commission basis.

Thanks for that info, Bibster. The quote for the main and jib together from FX Sails doesn't come to what just the main is from your quote above. We are not using roller furling, for a jib we are getting a 100% hank on to start and will add a genny later.

[selckmann]

I bought a full batten main, working jib and a 170 from Evolution sails in Easton Maryland. Great sails.

[Jim Walsh]

The quote for the main and jib together from FX Sails doesn't come to what just the main is from your quote above. We are not using roller furling, for a jib we are getting a 100% hank on to start and will add a genny later.

That would alarm me.

[oldragbaggers]

The quote for the main and jib together from FX Sails doesn't come to what just the main is from your quote above. We are not using roller furling, for a jib we are getting a 100% hank on to start and will add a genny later.

That would alarm me.

I don't necessarily find it "alarming" but it was enough to compel me to come here and ask if anyone had actually had experience with them. As I said above, I got quotes from 3 sailmakers and theirs was substantially lower than the others. The main cause for this, my guess is, because they have their sails made overseas and the other two are domestic sailmakers. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. I have purchased sails in the past from Sail Warehouse, Rolly Tasker brand, which are made in Thailand I believe and have been very satisfied with them. Our plans are primarily for fair weather coastal cruising and we are not racers so don't need high tech or top of the line cruising sails as long as the sail fits well, and is made well it will suit our needs at least to start out with. One poster above, Jean, said he has ordered from them in the past and was perfectly satisfied.

[fenixrises]

Hi Jim,

Back last decade (2006) I got a new main from FX for FeNIX my CD28. It lasted pretty well over a 3 year circumnavigation. It was very tired by the time I returned. Generally I was happy with the sail.

In 2009 I ordered an new main from them for my current boat SunShine. Seemed to me that the quality of the fabric and the overall quality of the sail was less. They also put the wrong slides on the sail. Since they are in South Carolina and I was in Florida they sent me new slides only. I had to install them myself. Good thing I kept the old slides because over a short period of time the cheap all plastic slides they provided broke. On a trip here in the Philippines from Subic Bay to Cebu done mostly under power
the mainsail ripped leach to luff across the middle of a panel.

When I returned to Cebu I removed the sail and took it to Hyde here in Cebu. They showed me that the fabric was so deteriorated that it was not worth repairing. This sail was less than three years old and had spend most of its life under cover. I know that FX has their sails made in China. It seems that in order to maintain profitability and a very competitive price they have reduced quality to the point of making worthless sails. Needless to say I do not recommend them.

Generally Lee sails in Hong Kong seem to be the best bet in this area of the world. I have used a couple of used sails made by them on both FeNIX and SunShine with excellent results and durability.

Take care,
Fred

[oldragbaggers]

Hi Jim,

Back last decade (2006) I got a new main from FX for FeNIX my CD28. It lasted pretty well over a 3 year circumnavigation. It was very tired by the time I returned. Generally I was happy with the sail.

In 2009 I ordered an new main from them for my current boat SunShine. Seemed to me that the quality of the fabric and the overall quality of the sail was less. They also put the wrong slides on the sail. Since they are in South Carolina and I was in Florida they sent me new slides only. I had to install them myself. Good thing I kept the old slides because over a short period of time the cheap all plastic slides they provided broke. On a trip here in the Philippines from Subic Bay to Cebu done mostly under power
the mainsail ripped leach to luff across the middle of a panel.

When I returned to Cebu I removed the sail and took it to Hyde here in Cebu. They showed me that the fabric was so deteriorated that it was not worth repairing. This sail was less than three years old and had spend most of its life under cover. I know that FX has their sails made in China. It seems that in order to maintain profitability and a very competitive price they have reduced quality to the point of making worthless sails. Needless to say I do not recommend them.

Generally Lee sails in Hong Kong seem to be the best bet in this area of the world. I have used a couple of used sails made by them on both FeNIX and SunShine with excellent results and durability.

Take care,
Fred

Thank you very much, Fred, for this evaluation. We had already decided to go with another maker, but reading this review makes us feel even better about the decision.

[oldragbaggers]

After getting six quotes, communicating with a couple of sailmakers, and doing a lot of internet research, we decided to go with Rolly Tasker. We have been working for the past two weeks with Terry Clarence at Annapolis Boat Service. He has been amazing, so patient and helpful in getting us exactly the type of sail we want for exactly the type of cruising we want to do at a fantastic price. And since the boat show is coming next month we're also getting the 10% boat show discount. Can't beat that.

We didn't have the original main and we have removed the roller furling and are going to a hank on jib, so he was basically designing sails for us from scratch. We didn't have any experience in ordering sails this way. In the past we have either delivered an old sail to a sailmaker and just said "do another one of these" or we have bought off the shelf from Catalina Direct or Sail Warehouse. This was a great education for us and we will certainly understand our sails better this time around.

[Jim Walsh]

we have removed the roller furling and are going to a hank on jib

Not criticizing your decision but (oh sure, he had to put a "but" in here ) there are several times every season where I thank God for roller furling. Big seas and strong winds make foredeck's very intimidating places to visit. More so the older you get (we all fit this category) and the further offshore you travel.

[oldragbaggers]

we have removed the roller furling and are going to a hank on jib

Not criticizing your decision but (oh sure, he had to put a "but" in here ) there are several times every season where I thank God for roller furling. Big seas and strong winds make foredeck's very intimidating places to visit. More so the older you get (we all fit this category) and the further offshore you travel.

It's okay to criticize the decision. We criticize it all the time, and if there is one subject that we go back and forth on constantly it is this one.

On the one hand, we have never had roller furling and our purist style makes us tend to steer away from any gear that might cause complications, increased maintenance, or failure. On the other hand, at our age we realize the first thing to fail at this point might very well be us rather than the roller furler. After reading your post and a couple of others on another forum, and discussing this subject quite a lot today, we asked our rigger to quote the cost of replacing the furler.

I'm sure there will need to be more head banging before we actually make a decision, but your point is well taken.