Buying a new main sail ? Muslehead ?

[bubba]

I got an e mail from Toby at Kelly Hansen sails and he says the cost to recut the sails he sells to a flatter shape for up wind sailing, they charge 15% of the sail price At $845.00 + 15% for the C3000 muscle head to be recut that would be $126.75 + $845 = $971.00 Don't quote me But that is a great deal

For those of us who fly a Mac gennaker in light down wind breezes this may be the ticket for getting back up wind without starting to reef to soon and lessening the degree of heal at a good price.

Stay tuned I have 3 more bids coming in the next couple of days.

[bubba]

I almost got a quote from the Doyle sails rep in CA but he sent a bid on Mac X sails with wrong dim and will need to requote prices. I am guessing the 26M's are so new in the replacement sails world they don't have good dimensions this is about the 5th time this has happened. His prices for a 26X 6.4 oz main sail were not too bad.
More tomorrow

[delevi]

Bubba,
Why not consider the Pentex line from KH instead of the musclehead? Being undercanvassed is probably not your problem most of the time. The Pentex is a better sail, minus the extra roach of the musclehead and you won't have the top batten issue when stowing. If KH can customize it for you, great. If not, you can have it customized at a local loft, i.e. 3rd reef, full battens, or whatever your heart desires and still make out spending way less money than what you are being quoted. Same with the KH pentex jib; have uv and luff pad added at a loft the they can't do it for you. If it comes in a loose-foot version, you may not need to be concerned about a flat/upwind cut as in all likelihood, you will be able to get it as flat as you want with a powerful outhaul and cunningham. You'll even save enough money to get a backstay to flatten further, as well as tension the forestay for additional upwind performance. Some food for thought. As if you don't have enough options

cheers,
Leon

[bubba]

I plan a running back stay after Tod at BWY's installs a 'radar arch' ( a taller doubled ( 4 posts instead of 2 )mast support setup for a digital radar antana) it will be tall enough to set up the dodger and biminy under the mast ( like we have now ) for RVing when on the road and strong enought to handle the running back stays above the biminy.

I got an amended quote from Doyle's rep Dave Wilhite just now

DuraSail Main 6.4 Dacron Includes: StackPack ,4 Full Battens, 2 reefs, Headboard ? , Bag $1715.00

DuraSail Gen 120% 6.4 Dacron includes : UV cover, Luff Flattener, bag $725.00
Strong Track System $770.00
$3210.00 total

[bubba]

The Doyle Rep called on Friday afternoon and we had a chat about the quote and he sayed he realized there were several MacGregors out the window at the marina he works at and started looking closer at the M's and X's and then called the MacGregor factory and got a better idea of what I and other crusing MacGregor owners need, His last quote came in this afternoon ( working on Saturdays ) so here goes:

Main Sail Fabric - DuraSail 6.4 oz Dacron CrossCut, 4-full battens, 2 reefs, Loose footed, Cunningham, flat cut, 170 sq ft ------------------ $1183.00
Jib Sail Fabric - DuraSail 6.4 oz Dacron CrossCut, UV cover Jockie red, Luff Flattener, window ---------------------------------------------- $699.00
Cradle Cover Fabric Sunbrella Jockie red Lazy Jacks, Battens (not attached to main sail) ------------------------------------------------------ $899.00
Strong Track with slide hardwear, Capture Fittings ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $770.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $3551.00 Total

He did a lot of work going out and getting his own and the factories dimensions.


Dave Wilhite, Doyle Sailmakers, 2035 Clement Ave.Alameda CA 94501 ph 510 523 9411 fax 510 523 9433 cell 360 201 2336

[bubba]

Here is the quote from Ballard Sails in Seattle open 3 weeks:

We ran the numbers on the Hydranet fabric and here are some prices on sails for your boat.
Main Sail
Base sail $2056.00
4 full Battens $440
3 Reefs $220
Total $2716


120% headsail
Base Sail $1194
Red sunbrella uv $504
Window $80
Foam Luff $180
Total $1958
Dimension has another fabric that is great for lower stretch sails. there CX-Pen Laminate is a Polyester based Laminate with a Taffeta on both sides.This sail wil be built as a Tri-radial verses the Hydra net which will be a cross cut Sail.
Main Sails Base price $1935.
120% head sail $1201.




Joe Grieser

Ballard Sails & Yacht Services

6303 Seaview ave nw

Seattle, Wa 98107

206-706-5500

[bubba]

CROSS CUT MAINSAIL FOR MACGREGOR 26M. MADE WITH 7OZ WHITE PERFORMANCE DACRON SAIL CLOTH. INCLUDES:
4 FULL BATTENS, 3 REEF SETS, HEAVY BOLT ROPE, OPEN FOOT, RUTGERSON ROLLER CARS FOR BATTEN FITTINGS, 6 OF THE 2" SLIPPERY SLIDES, STANDARD HEAD BOARD, LEECH AND FOOT, LINE,BAG

110% FURLING JIB. MADE WITH 6OZ WHITE PERFORMANCE DACRON SAIL CLOTH. INCLUDES: #6 LUFF TAPE, UV SUNBRELLA CLOTH ON THE LEECH AND FOOT, FOAM LUFF, LEECH AND FOOT LINE, RUTGERSON EYES AT THE HEAD, TACK AND CLEW, AND BAG
$ 995.00T

Main sail Cradle cover with lazy jack system $241.21

Total $3,013.71 these are custom made in WA state Creating Jobs


Yager Sails 509-939-6394 located in Spokane WA and in Bellingham WA

[bubba]

I found out ounces or oz does not mean weight but thread count to the sailmaker, like buying sheets for a bead at home, the higher the number the more wear you get.

There are many different sail slides to choose from. The white plastic slides on our boat cost $0.59 each and they stick and jam but there are others that cost more that don't stick or jam because of the material and length of slide. check out the Sail slide forum

[Highlander]

I have too agree with Art,

All of the sail lofts I,ve delt with with the exception K/H and another in Sidney BC I had trouble getting quotes on what I wanted they allways try to move you up not just one notch but all the way to the top "priced" that they can convince you to buy ! I usualy walk out the door thinking "Do I look like I just won the lottery ?"
My local sail loft sells alot to people who race so he is on the pricey side , but now that he has got to know me alot as I've being buying alot of hardware off him the last couple yrs he's willing to barter with me he knows my boat gets alot of attention when it shows up @ his local city marina, the uv sewn on head sail strip covers & main sail cover were made by him & have his logo on them so people walk by the boat when slipped & assume he has made the sails also , He tells me people come to him with pic's of my boat & say can you do this to my boat He says I can do most of it if not all of that rigging for them ching, ching, .
He also has a pic of my boat on display
I have already bought two storm sails I also bought a spare main sail off K/H & am happy with them
I am in no way connected to K/H Yet
" Yet" Meaning no he has not donated a Musclehead main to me Yet for on going sea trials
J

[beene]

Be prudent on this purchase. The Mac is a coastal cruising sailboat. There is no need to put a Corvette engine into a sub-compact car.

Hmmmmmmm

That gets me thinking......

Would I need a transom backing plate with that?



G

[delevi]

Bubba,
Let us know what you end up getting.

[bscott]

My KH C2000 loose footed main is alot flatter than the pic of the Muscle head. I am confused--if you are asking for a very flat main I assume you are being overpowered with the stock baggy Doyle? Why would you go for the Muscle head which will surely over power the boat in the slug busting conditions you sail in and force you to reef earlier--more work, less play.
You can order a C2000 loose footed and have a loft convert the battens to "full", a Cunningham and a third reef---all minor cost items. When I bought my sails from Art he explained to me that his M main sail was cut flatter to accomodate the extra draft of the rotating mast. I've owned many sail boats with expensive ego enhancing sails and can honestly say that the C2000 jib and main is an excellent sail combination at a very good price.

I retired 2 years ago and treated myself to KH sails and a Schaefer CF700 Snap furl Have fun in your search

Bob

[bubba]

It will probably take a bit of time for me to deside which sail to buy, I will bring this topic up when I do and post my choice. After the mention about making our Mac M a Corvette ( although the M looks really fast ) with pricy fast looking racing sails is tempting, were looking at great easy to work set of sails that will last 600 or 700 days sailing or 5 years. Wheather we greese up the mast sail track with spray or get better slides on our next main sail that will not have to be winched up the last half of the mast like now ( since our auto wreck my pulling strength is low and it gives me a 2 day neck ack to work with the sail slides we currently have). I don't know how the spray will work after one of our regular desert dust storms where the sky turns tan for a couple of days, I'm afraid anything moist at all is a dust trap and I want to keep the sail track clean.

If the lake was up enough to launch I would not have the time to post.

[bubba]

I went out sailing with School House Steve yesterday ( April 3 ) to try his new Muscle Head main sail at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers. Our day started a little rough but by noon we were eating lunch on the boat at the launch ramp dock. The early morning breeze of 20 to 30 kt's had died down to 15 to 20 kt's breeze with only 1.5 wind waves so we went out with a full main sail up KIND OF, we had to stop in the windshadow of some trees to try to hoist the main sail all the way to the top of the mast but could not use the winch to finish it's hoisting, even with my 210 lb weight pulling myself off the deck we had a baggy sail bottom all day and needed to raise it about 6 more inches. I really like the sails look and really wanted a good sailing with it. I guess we needed something to slicken up the slides but we didn't have anything on the boat. My buddy Steve's reefing system was not working too good on the new sails so we kept the sail up full in the light breeze of 15 to 20 kt and healed quite a bit. As we sailed up wind and were walking on the INSIDE SIDES of the cockpit the boat speed was VERY IMPRESSIVE, When we turned the boat to a broad reach the breeze changed and we again were heading a little up wind and the boat speed was 7+ kt but that was with a 2 kt current. Running down wind up stream on the Snake River was the BEST sailshape with the big bag in the sails from the stickie slides and not having the sails up all the way we made good headway into the current with only about 8 kt of breeze.

I know this day of sailing was not really a fair test of the Muscle Head sail because of the bad sailshape we got and the light to medium breezes we experenced. I will be going out with Steve again in stiffer breezes to see how the sail does on an average day in the Columbia Gorge, sailing against the current ( either here on the Columbia river or on the Salish Sea) we need stronger breeze's than most just to enjoy sailing into the current into the breeze.

I know sail slides can be changed and were now VERY cretain we want to install the Tides Marine 'Strong Track' system with the new mainsail we deside to buy AND now the Muscle Head main sail is deffinately in the running.

[Hardcrab]

I'm curious about the sail not raising all the way.

My stock main will not go all the way up if I've forgotten to release the vang from the last time sailed, or if I haven't taken a wrap around the boom end with my fixed topping lift.
If the admiral is aboard, she lifts the boom end up, instead of the topping lift.

With that done, it raises easy as pie from up at the mast.

I've had the main sheet get fouled on the mast hound bolt stopping the raising dead, but besides slides, what else will cause the issue?

I can't imagine the slides, IMHO.