wrote in message
...
Here's a posting of interest from a forum where the purchase of
cruising sails is under discussion:

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 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.

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.


Regards


Donal
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