"DSK" wrote in message
...


wrote
Just make sure you know who is really making your sails. We bought a
new main 2 years ago, and out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico
every single piece of webbing holding the slides on disintegrated! I
was later told that the sail was farmed out to a cheap shop in Hong
Kong, and I got inferior materials. Just be careful.

I hope you got the thing stitched back together, only this time with the
good
stuff.


Donal wrote:
I wonder!

Last week, the UK agency for Hong Kong Sails offered my club a couple
of
"discount" vouchers.

We discussed the matter at the club, and of course, we didn't come to
any
firm conclusions. How could we, without actually seeing the sails?

A couple of valid points were made.

Some lofts insist on visiting your boat to take measurements. This
visit
must cost about $200, maybe $300. Not all buyers are looking for the
absolute limit of performance from their Dacron sails. Furthermore,
many
sailors are competent enough to take their own measurements.

True. But then there are a lot who merely think they are.



The other main point concerned the labour vs material costs. If labour
costs represent a high proportion of the price of a sail, then it would
be
easy to reduce costs, and maintain quality, by moving the manufacturing
to
China. However, if the material represents the bulk of the
manufacturing
cost, then Hong Kong sails would have to be producing inferior quality
sails.

Well, having a sailmkaer come on board your boat is labor... and can't be
farmed out overseas. But he can do things for your sails that cannot be
done
any other way.

*Good* materials are expensive. We are friends with a couple that runs a
local
canvas shop, and they use an expensive UV resistant thread... so expensive
that the thread for stitching up a dodger & bimini for a 40 footer is $200
wholesale. How much more would be in a sail for that same boat? It's a
significant part of the cost.

I've talked with (& sailed with too) a lot of people who seem to want to
brag
about how cheaply they got their sails. I always smile & nod politely but
thinking 'what's the point? Would $X more break the bank when you've
already
paid for a $YY,000 boat?' I have also sailed with some people who have
horribly bagged out worthless sails, often they want advice on adjustments
&
trim. One guy I sailed with last year had his boat's original sails from
25
years ago... the thing would not tack through 110 degrees, the main was so
baggy. But we enjoyed sailing all the same. It's a question of what you
want.

12 years ago, I sold an American made product for $8000. Today, I can sell
you the same (Chinese made) thing for $30.00. I can also afford to give you
a free "lifetime guarantee" because I have total confidence in the cheap
product.

I'm a little cynical about the whole "quality" issue. If these sails have a
high labour cost, then the Hong Kong version might be very good value. Of
course, if the material represents the bulk of the cost, then Hong Kong
Sails couldn't produce a good sail economically. Perhaps you could ask your
sailmaking friends what the labour percentage is, in a set of sails?


Regards


Donal
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