"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
A used sail is a BLOWN OUT SAIL!

That seems rather exclusionary, Thom. I can think of a few circumstances
where "used" doesn't necessarily mean "blown out."
1) Racing sails that have been used one season. They may be blown out by
the racer's standards, but a cruiser might find them to be like new and
close enough within the loft's specs to be usable for a number of years. A
friend has a Mylar/Kevlar/spectra/whatever hi-tech headsail that the
previous owner used six times and decided it wasn't good enough for his
racing needs. My friend's boat moves exceptionally well with that 150%
genny. It's far and away the nicest headsail he's ever owned, and he bought
it for pennies on the dollar.
2) Another friend recently sold his boat after buying new cruising
laminates for it the previous year. Since the boat he was selling wasn't
bringing much money on the used market, he chose to include the older sails
and sell the new ones separately. The buyer of the boat bought the new
suit, as it turned out, and they were like new--i.e.-not blown out. My
guess is that they were used five or six times, and just for an afternoon
daysail.
3) I have a cruising laminate 155% headsail on my boat. The previous owner
had just purchased this sail a few years before I bought the boat from him.
At the time of the purchase the genoa was still in very good order. It's
getting somewhat blown out now, but that has taken at least 7 years of
extensive sailing to do so.
4) Laminates generally hold their shape longer than plain Dacron. But they
cost more, so most people opt for crosscut Dacron.

The original poster never specified if his proposed purchase was laminate or
not.

Max