Buying a new main sail ? Muslehead ?

[bubba]

I looked at Quantium sails and got a bid for there Fusion M sails Main w/ sail pack and 110% jib with UV for $ 5257.00 and out of there 5.6 HA laminated dacron same opt. $4312.00.

I got a quote from UK-Halsey NW for there full batten Batmain with tape drive 6.2 dacron Laminate Main,3 reefs, cunningham, speed stripes w/ lazy jack cradle bag and 110% jib for $4,671.00


I got this quote from North Sails for there laminated Nordac Radian main sail ,3 reefs, 4 full battens w/ lazy jack main cover and 110% jib for $4593.00.


The only totally USA made sails came from Hasse & Company Port Townsend Sails The material is made on Banbradge island WA. by Challenge Sailcloth and uses Premium Marblehead Dacron hand sewn in Port Townsend WA.; Main sail 6.2 oz with all the hardwear 3 reefs,4 Full battens, Full batten heardwear (Schaefer (4) and Lazy jack main sail bag and 120% jib 6.2 oz with window, UV cover for the price of $7,442.36 but that includes custom fit at there sail loft and after purchase sail maintance. There the sail loft that made the sails for the trip around the Americas: Leaving from Seattle going thru the North West Passage last summer and down the east coast to the Horn and now there on the way up the west coast of South America due in Seattle in May.


I looked at Kelly Hanson sails again to see what sailcloth they use on there 3000 sails and after looking it up it is a woven Dacron the same fabric as Doyle and UK-Halsey sails uses according to the cloth name Dimensions-Polyant's web site.


I wonder how much the 70 hp Suz and fuel cost me ?

[Highlander]

Thanks for the great advice on the Musclehead sail. One question can I still use our topping lift ? or do we need to add a boom kicker ?

I still use my topping lift, same as I would with the oem mainsail. Nice to hear it is 6 oz Dacron, better than the 5.4 I thought it was. I am sure it will outlast two of the oem mainsails. With my genoa and Musclehead I am flying just over 400 sq. ft. of sail which is nice to have in light winds we get up here in the PNW during July & August (although we also get our fair share of high winds in that time). Actually, 400 sq. ft of sail is a lot for a Mac 26!

Terry

I fly 506sq ft of sail when cutter rigged !
Eat Ya heart out baby
http://s844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010091.flv

When my new clipper rig set up is completed I'll be able to fly around 575- 600sq ft of sail
when all rigging is complete she'll be capable of flying approx 1300sq ft of sail but I think I should make a weighted D/B first or have a capable crew on board to help with all the sheet lines don't know if I could release them all in time if a sudden gust came up " 7 sets of sheeting lines "
Now if Art was interested maybe he'd give me one of them their Muslehead sails would be a great advertizing agent for him as my boat doe's get a lot of attention were ever it goe's
J

[bubba]

Highlander You think your boat has enough sail area up? You probably would not want a musclehead main with all the forsails. You never sent me a dimension from the std roller to the second roller furler foward.

[AWKIII]

Hi John.

Do you have a spinnaker halyard with your current rig?

Any reason why you chose to move away from the CDI line of furlers?

Might be able to work out a deal with you on a M-Head. Perhaps swap one out for a complete, ready to install sprit?

Then we will meet somewhere and have MacCutter races!

Art

[c130king]

...When my new clipper rig set up is completed I'll be able to fly around 575- 600sq ft of sail
when all rigging is complete she'll be capable of flying approx 1300sq ft of sail...

Just a question to get rid of some of my ignorance. When you say you will have 1300 sq ft of sail does it all get counted if much of it overlaps?

Just wondering.

Thanks,
Jim

[bubba]

I was just reading the quote from Port Townsend Sails and they have the answer to full battened main sails like the Musclehead and others getting stuck going up and down the mast. They figured in a 'Strong Track' track addition for my mast for there upgraded sail slides that would mount on my existing mast over the rope slide track. I will find out on Monday.

[Highlander]

Highlander You think your boat has enough sail area up? You probably would not want a musclehead main with all the forsails. You never sent me a dimension from the std roller to the second roller furler foward.

Phil.
My forward furler which fly's my Genny is adj. from 30"-36" from my original rear mounted furler which carries my Jib my boat is in my shop right now so I'd have to go out & meassure it but she is stored with the bowsprit folded in the upright possition right now so might be better to wait till I bring here out it was +16-20deg C here all week I was temped to bring her out then it snowed yesterday , but it will not be long now spring is here , was working on my New 66" long genny track mod on Fri but had other things to do on sat besides it was snowing anyway & I'm too cheap to heat my shop so i will be back to the boat next wk end weather permiting although I'll have to get the house spic & span clean next wk-end got company coming down the following wk-end fo a week so wont get much done on the boat that week . Amazing what a woman can do to a mans train of thought
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010116.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 0021-1.jpg
J

[Highlander]

Hi John.

Do you have a spinnaker halyard with your current rig?
Yes I'm set up for two Spin hlayards !

Any reason why you chose to move away from the CDI line of furlers?
Yes two Harken 0 Alum foils weigh less than one Heavy CDI or Mac plastic foil, has an adj hlyard that can be adj, from the cockpit for way better sail shape also not good to leave the halyard tight on the headsail it stretches them out ? & the halyard adj on the CDI & Mac furlers is a major PITA over tighten & it buckles the foil & makes for a baggy head sail , and try adj, a CDI or Mac furler halyard on the open water . with an adj, halyard from the cockpit you can change your head sail trim according to the wind conditions just the same as your mainsail if lead back to the cockpit
Might be able to work out a deal with you on a M-Head. Perhaps swap one out for a complete, ready to install sprit?
which bowsprit are we talking about here i've designed two of them one with two anchor rollers and one that is detachable !
Then we will meet somewhere and have MacCutter races!
Sounds good to me !
Art

[Highlander]

...When my new clipper rig set up is completed I'll be able to fly around 575- 600sq ft of sail
when all rigging is complete she'll be capable of flying approx 1300sq ft of sail...

Just a question to get rid of some of my ignorance. When you say you will have 1300 sq ft of sail does it all get counted if much of it overlaps?

Just wondering.

Thanks,
Jim

Jim

Although some of the sails do overlap to some degree they all catch extra wind "air" which increases speed just as your Genny over laps your Main sail so yes it all counts
When I fly my Jib & main & then roll out the genny I p/u about 3knts
When I fly my Genny & main & then roll out the jib I p/u about 2knts
remember my genny is way out in front of my Jib by about 3ft so it barely over laps the main
I have alot of sail oppitions to play with , with 6 head sails remember with all my head sails I can increase sail area without increasing loft so I do not get the extra heel as much as you do with the Muslcehead as my extra sail area is closer to the deck
the two Spinnakers being the option of course !

So was a good question J

[NiceAft]

John said:

Amazing what a woman can do to a mans train of thought

Ray says: It depends on what you are thinking

[bubba]

My mind has been on buying new sails all weekend, my wife is teaching a horse back riding clinic all weekend and I will be glad when she gets home on the plane to night so I can get distracted, but she is also very interested in new sails too.

I guess with a musclehead main sail and our a-spinnaker we fly only 550 sq ft, the a-spinnaker will not fly with the jib up, my wife tryed it once and it wrapped around the jib ( what a mess ).

[delevi]

Fusion M is a more sophisticated grid than Fusion X. It costs more, and you will never realize the difference. Maybe if you had a 40 footer and raced it, you would see a minute difference. You might want a quot on the Fuxion X. BTW, you don't get more of a grid on the FM, just a better designed load pattern.

Whichever route you go, I would highly recommend loose foot and full battens. At least 2 full on top (my setup.) If was to do it over again, I would have all 4 battens full.

******You can negotiate with the sail lofts******
When I got my set, I negotiated a 25% discount.
Fusion X main with 2 reefs (got the 3rd one later, inspired by you Bubba) 2 full batens on top with all hardware, state-of the art battens and leech hardware (no velcro) all mechanical, will never come out, guarranteed not to break and they bend just the right amount. Batcars for the luff for the full battens, Superbe hardware (v-jamb cleat-aluminum) for leech lines, and Dutchman flaking system installed into the sail. The sail has good positive roach... approximately somehwere between the muschlehead and oem. I also had jacklines set up for the slugs but later removed them. Net price with tax $2,700.

Fusion X 105 jib with sunbrela UV protection (later changed to lighter version Tedlar) Leech and foot lines with same hardwarde as the main. Foam luff pad to get a great shape when roller reefed. $1,300.

The mainsail cover cost me $600-$650 (can't remember.) It was designed to accommodate the Dutchman system.

I wasn't happy with UV on the sail and my KH genoa had no UV so I ended up getting a Sunbrella jib sock made by Quantum for around $225.

[NiceAft]

Bubba,

With all due respect, at this point I think you are putting far too much energy into the question. By now you know certain things. First, there really isn't a quality question anymore. The responses from the board pretty much say you can't go wrong with any of the sail's mentioned. Second, the only question is how much are you willing to spend?

Once you have made the purchase (whatever it may be), put it out of your mind, whistle Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, live life, and go sailing Oh yes, let us know

Good luck,

Ray

[School House Steve]

Bubba,

I just purchased a new KH Musclehead sail and took the boat out for a test two weeks ago. I don't know as much about sails as others who have already posted here but I was AMAZED at the the difference over the factory sail. I got at least an extra 20% of speed under all conditions. You're close enough to me to get together if you want see, touch or try the sail for yourself. I also got a new KH jib and one thing no one else has mentioned is when you buy two sails at the same time you get 10% off!
Art, if I close this deal, whats my commission?

Steve

Unless you lost your phone again you should have my number.

[bubba]

When is the next full moon Steve ? Will you be out sailing then?