It would be interesting to hear from him, assuming that when he
gets back he was actually using them and not drunk in some
bar.

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Donal,

The topic was Neal's sails;

Those HK sails have me worried, as well as Neal's faith in them. I hope
they stand up to usage?

I have my doubts. I also worry about Neal's evaluation of sails

I feel a certain amount of responsibility for the sails he got. I
replaced my Main sail and posted my screwup of getting a free footed
Main rather than a shelved main,as I had, because I didn't mention it.

I tried to tell him he didn't have a shelved main. I think it was also
Loco that tried to tell him. He had a full bolt rope footed main. ( I
guess his Main was so blown it looked like a shelf) He specified a
shelve and got it.

I was shocked when I saw the pictures of the Tack and the Clew, They
were made with only a single reinforcement tape and no extra stitching.
This isn't good enough!!! The sail he got, unlike his old sail with the
bolt rope, has only two point attachment on the foot of the sail. A
single tape without at least six rows of stitching is going to work
loose and fail. The shelve gives no support. The Tack & Clew on my North
main each have five reinforcing tapes.

He shopped around after asking the price I paid and was very proud of
the bargain he got. Not only did he beat my price on the Main he also
got a working jib.

I hope Neal's sail hold up but I Don't Think so! I'm pretty sure we'll
never know. I pray I'm wrong.

Anyhow, This was about quality and cost. I got a very good price on my
new Main plus an allowance on my old. I'm pretty sure my sail was fab'd
in the Pacific but by North and to North's Spec's. They saved on labor
but not to the point of North's reputation

Ole Thom