cost of new main

[whistlerntwinks]

Hi, I have a 1984 Typhoon weekender that for most of the time I have owned her since 1986 (only owner!) was sailed about twenty times a year on Barnegat Bay. I'm embarrassed to admit that I still sail her with her original main sail which badly needs to be replaced. After scanning this forum, I contacted Precision Sail. Their lowest price without any extras like their offshore reinforcement package ($69) or insignia ($69 to put the Ty on the sail) was $469.39. Should I upgrade to their offshore package that includes reinforcements? Should I jump to their midgrade Precision 400 Advanced Dacron sail that will end up costing me $320 more or even go all the way to the tri-radial sail for about $400 more? I do not race my boat. She sails most days for 2 hours or so in the late afternoon/early evening. Of course, anything will be way better than what I am sailing now. And, are partial battens okay? I now live on the bay so will be sailing much more and have no plans to get rid of her or get another boat. I love her.

[tjr818]

Call Travis at Mack Sails ( http://macksails.com. )

3129 SE Dominica Terrace
Stuart, FL 34997
Phone: 772-283-2306
FAX: 772-283-2433
Toll Free: 800-428-1384
E-Mail: info@macksails.com


They make the very bet sails for our Cape Dorys.

[mgphl52]

If you could wait till the fall, Precision offers some great discounts.
I'm a fan of loose-foot & full battens. I would also suggests some reef points.

[Carl Thunberg]

I bought both the tri-radial and the offshore reinforcement from Precision Sails for my boat. In my opinion, the tri-radial cut is worth it. However, the unintended consequence of the offshore reinforcement package on a small boat is an extremely deep first reef. Had I known exactly how reinforced the tack would be, I would not have ordered it. My first reef is roughly equivalent to a second reef on my previous sails, and it's all because of the reinforcement.

[BernieA]

I had Precision make a mainsail for my CD28. I ordered the mid level 400 sailcloth and the offshore package. The winter price was $1370 including shipping. If you only sail when the weather is perfect, don't bother with the offshore package. If your area has unpredictable weather, spring for it. The extra reinforcement is probably worth it.

[csoule13]

Any local sail lofts? I'm a big fan of keeping my money local, even more so given the state of the world. If we don't support our local guys, they won't be around when we need them.

Also, seems like you have a good idea of what your typical mission is. No need to get something wildly outside of that box. Back when I was flying, you always got folks buying way more airplane than needed because someday they might want to do something they weren't currently doing. They rarely did, and just humped a more expensive airplane around burning extra dinosaurs.

[wikakaru]

When we bought our Typhoon in 2016 it had the original factory-supplied sails from 1980 on it, so I have recently gone through exactly the same thing you are going through.

I'm a firm believer in buying and equipping the boat for what you are actually doing with it. You said you are doing mostly short daysails. In that case, you will always have a good short-term weather forecast when you sail, and you are not likely to be going out into (or be caught out in) adverse conditions. Choose a sail construction that is appropriate for daysailing.

I agree with csoule13 that a GOOD local sailmaker (one who will come out and measure your boat, see what kind of sail handling hardware you have and where it is located, talk to you about how and where you intend to sail the boat, and build a sail appropriate for your boat and what you intend to do) is worth supporting, and even worth paying extra for. If your local sailmaker doesn't provide that kind of support, then you may as well go with one of the discount online sail lofts.

I don't think full battens, as recommended by mgphl52, are appropriate for a Typhoon. I haven't tried full battens on a Typhoon, but in my experience with bigger boats, to get full battens to raise and lower easily you really need a low-friction sail track like a StrongTrack. I had such a system on my Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34 and loved it, but it is way too much expense, weight, and complication for a Typhoon. I suggest that you stick with partial battens.

If you have the original sail, then you probably do not have any reefing hardware on the boom. The original boom and mainsail (at least on my Typhoon) were roller-reefing. So you will have to consider if you want your new sail to reef the same way as your old sail did, or if you want to change the reefing setup. "Slab" or "jiffy" reefing is much preferable to rolling the mainsail around the boom from both a sail shape and from an ease-of-use perspective. A single set of reef points is adequate for the afternoon daysails you plan. If the wind is stronger than a single reef can handle, you are going to get soaked by waves coming over the deck of your Typhoon, and you are not going to leave the mooring if the forecast is for the kind of weather where you would need a second reef. Sure, an unexpected pop-up squall can always sneak up on you, so if you want a second reef to handle getting caught by unexpected weather that's fine, but I wouldn't consider it necessary for 2-hour daysails.

Our new Typhoon mainsail is loose footed. I prefer a loose foot because you can actually adjust outhaul tension for a sail shape that is appropriate to the wind speed. However, if you want to stick with the "roller reefing" boom setup then you don't want a loose foot on your mainsail.

Since you said you don't plan to race the boat, I wouldn't think that tri-radial construction is worth the extra expense. For the sake of other Typhoon owners reading this who are interested in racing, you will want to follow the fleet rules for sail construction. Dacron only! At least one set of reef points is required in the mainsail (which is a bit odd, since the Typhoon originally came with a roller furling boom), and you will need to have the hull number on the sail. See the rules here https://www.rryc.org/docs.ashx?id=595053 and here http://www.phrfchesbay.org/page/rules/sail_specs.

I'm sure you will find, as we did, that a new set of sails will make it feel like a whole new boat. Enjoy!

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[whistlerntwinks]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I think I will wait until the fall to take advantage of fall/winter pricing, and I'll see if I can find a local sailmaker. I'll also check out the other sail lofts you all recommended. I used Linthicum Sails for new mainsail and jib covers a few years ago and wasn't real happy with his work. I think he typically gets good reviews so remain surprised by my experience. Maybe I should give him a second chance.

[mgphl52]

I don't think full battens, as recommended by mgphl52, are appropriate for a Typhoon. I haven't tried full battens on a Typhoon, but in my experience with bigger boats, to get full battens to raise and lower easily you really need a low-friction sail track like a StrongTrack. I had such a system on my Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34 and loved it, but it is way too much expense, weight, and complication for a Typhoon. I suggest that you stick with partial battens.
Jim

I'm surprised at this comment regarding raising & lowering a main with full battens since I had full batten main on Brigitta, my last CD25, and I have my second full batten main on KAYLA, my CD28. Both of these boats had the basic slot and no "low-friction" sail track and I never had trouble raising or lowering the main. However, as a maintenance task, I would spray the slides and the slot as far as I could reach with SailLube every month or so. Maybe that's the key?

[Rollergirl]

If he's still working, you might try Mark Beaton. He's had a good rep on the Bay.
Beaton Sails, 72 Beaton Rd, Brick, NJ 08723. (732) 920-6638

I had a reef in my Ty's main and used it frequently in the summer afternoons. The Ty is a slow boat (or even immovable) in the usual lighter morning bay air, and I asked Dave Thompson of Eggars Sails (Perth Amboy, when he was in business) to give me some light air power. Hence the need for a post-11AM reef. As I remember, it was about 20% of area, not the P measure.

Good luck
Bill

[wikakaru]

I don't think full battens, as recommended by mgphl52, are appropriate for a Typhoon. I haven't tried full battens on a Typhoon, but in my experience with bigger boats, to get full battens to raise and lower easily you really need a low-friction sail track like a StrongTrack. I had such a system on my Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34 and loved it, but it is way too much expense, weight, and complication for a Typhoon. I suggest that you stick with partial battens.
Jim

I'm surprised at this comment regarding raising & lowering a main with full battens since I had full batten main on Brigitta, my last CD25, and I have my second full batten main on KAYLA, my CD28. Both of these boats had the basic slot and no "low-friction" sail track and I never had trouble raising or lowering the main. However, as a maintenance task, I would spray the slides and the slot as far as I could reach with SailLube every month or so. Maybe that's the key?

Maybe it isn't as necessary on smaller boats like your 25 and 28. I can tell you that with the StrongTrack on our PS34 our fully battened main would fall all the way down the mast all by itself when the halyard was released, and we could easily lower the mainsail for reefing even while going downwind. Without the StrongTrack, we had to haul the sail down by hand even when heading straight upwind under power, and it was virtually impossible to reef under sail, because the boat had to be kept into the wind to reduce the friction. SailKote never did the trick for me.

[gonesail]

agree with the strong track recommendation for 28 feet and up. one less thing to worry about when you release the halyard. for me a full batten loose footed main is the way to go. stack pack if you can afford it.