Norm wrote:
When looking at a new set of sails, how can you tell if they were
built for offshore use or for coastal use? Is there a quick and easy
way to tell?

Rich H hit the nail on the head. Some other things are to be familiar
with sailcloth and gage the weight versus size of sail; whether the
type of cloth is appropriate (for example a dense twill oriented versus
a fine thread heavily sized cloth).

Sometimes details are a giveaway, for example there's a New England loft
whose name I cannot recall right now; they specialize in sails for
classic & gaff rigged boats but make fine offshore sails- they have a
way of oversewing leather protectors on the D-rings & tabling that is
beautiful yet very functional. Detail work like that, found at the
headboard especially (because it's out of sight most of the time), is
hard to imitate and is most likely to be found on a good sail.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King