Which sails - A Hard decision

[sailboatmike]

My problem is

My partner may be going to Vancouver at Christmas, while she is there a thought was to possibly pick up some new sails as they are so much cheaper in the USA than here is Aus and I can get sails built by people that have experience in making Mac sails.

Here lays the problem, BWY is just down the road (in Aussie terms) form Vancouver and they have sails off the shelf, so if the chance arises she can drive down there and pick some up.

I would love Hyde sails, but they take weeks to make, so wouldnt fit into her timeline and they are in California so popping over the boarder to pick them up isnt a possibility.

So what are the quality of the upgrade sails from BWY like?

OR

Am I better ordering from Hyde sails and living with the postage which I presume will be pretty astronomical.

I would love to support a sponsor of this site, but Im not sure if the logistics will work out

[Signaleer]

Judy B will probably kill me for this, and BWY probably won't like it...

But MacGregor sails are not rocket surgery. I was sailing on a Bristol 35? the other day with full laminates that we pulled down and put the Dacron back up as the Laminates were not performing to spec, and the sail maker was going to work on them to improve them. ...

Mac sales... aren't that.

I am pretty certain that BWY sails are sourced from http://www.thesailwarehouse.com ... or the same over seas supplier.

I've used The Sail Warehouse multiple times on multiple boats - have 2 on the Mac right now, and I am very happy. My advice, there's no need to wait, and no need to overspend.

But... I'm sure there are other opinions. So, factor them in, of course. But our sails are pretty simple cuts, pretty light dacron, etc.

[NiceAft]

Between now and December 25 is a lot of time to make a sail. Can't you make your order now, and then have it shipped to the address in Vancouver where your partner will be staying. I'm sure delivery can be delayed to be timed with your partners arrival.

Ray

[vkmaynard]

Judy B will probably kill me for this, and BWY probably won't like it...

I've used The Sail Warehouse multiple times on multiple boats - have 2 on the Mac right now, and I am very happy. My advice, there's no need to wait, and no need to overspend.

But... I'm sure there are other opinions. So, factor them in, of course. But our sails are pretty simple cuts, pretty light dacron, etc.

Did I miss something?? Those prices are higher than Judy B's comparable sails.

Victor

[Judy B]

My problem is

My partner may be going to Vancouver at Christmas, while she is there a thought was to possibly pick up some new sails as they are so much cheaper in the USA than here is Aus and I can get sails built by people that have experience in making Mac sails.

Here lays the problem, BWY is just down the road (in Aussie terms) form Vancouver and they have sails off the shelf, so if the chance arises she can drive down there and pick some up.

I would love Hyde sails, but they take weeks to make, so wouldnt fit into her timeline and they are in California so popping over the boarder to pick them up isnt a possibility.

So what are the quality of the upgrade sails from BWY like?

OR

Am I better ordering from Hyde sails and living with the postage which I presume will be pretty astronomical.

I would love to support a sponsor of this site, but Im not sure if the logistics will work out

Mike,

Postage would not be astronomical. Our production loft is in Cebu, Philippines. That's closer to you than to the USA. I can deliver Mac26X or 26M sails to Australia in 4 weeks, for less than $100 USD over and above our online prices.

I would guess that the airline will charge you a lot to carry them on the plane from Vancover. They're heavy. The way we pack them, they weigh about 19.5 KG, packed in a box, 73 cm x 62 cm x 31 cm. That's a big box. Last time I flew international, the limit was 23 KG and one bag.

And remember: there is an 8.9% sales tax in Washington state.

Cheers,
Judy

[sunshinecoasting]

Hey Mike, Judy makes a good point, however, there are some really good sailmakers right here in Aus, I bought a 110% Jib from Evolution sales on the Gold Coast, he (like many sail lofts these days)simply plugged the make and model of the jib in to his computer and it produces a perfect pattern for him to work from, delivered door to door it was cheaper than anything I could buy over seas (taking in to account freight and taxes) and I have now had it a year and it performs perfectly, fitted perfectly to the CDI furler and I am very happy with it. Have a look here, http://www.evolutionsails.com/ you can get a quote directly from their web site or give them a call, they are very friendly (as all sail makers are for some reason?)

Cheers, Dennis.

[sailboatmike]

Thanks for that info Judy, it makes my choice easier as I know excess baggage would be a killer

Gee Dennis the way Australia Post is going at the moment it is actually quicker and cheaper to get things sent from overseas.

In the last couple of months I have had 2 parcels (only small ones) sent to me from places within a couple of hundred kilometers, on both occasions it has taken a week or more and the final straw that broke the camels back was a parcel sent to me from 10Km away took 5 days.

My partner gets parcels sent to her from China and they regularly arrive from 1/2 way around the world in less than a week.

That being given if I ordered sails from a Australian loft now I may or may not see them this side of christmas

[sailboatmike]

Between now and December 25 is a lot of time to make a sail. Can't you make your order now, and then have it shipped to the address in Vancouver where your partner will be staying. I'm sure delivery can be delayed to be timed with your partners arrival.

Ray

Im not sure about the tax situation if we ship them to Canada and then to Australia

[Neo]

Hi Mike,

Anything over AU$1000 and you're gonna get hit for customs duty but are you in a hurry to get your sails?

I recently had some sternal rail seats (similar size and weight) shipped sea freight via a consolidated shipping agent. It took 6 weeks to arrive but it only cost US$148 from their depot (in the US) to my front door. ... This is the company I used http://www.shipporter.com/home

Warrick's the guy there....My only complaint is that they don't tell you which ship your consignment is loaded on.... Would be nice to track the ship across the ocean.

All the best.
Neo

[taylormade]

Judy B will probably kill me for this, and BWY probably won't like it...

But MacGregor sails are not rocket surgery. I was sailing on a Bristol 35? the other day with full laminates that we pulled down and put the Dacron back up as the Laminates were not performing to spec, and the sail maker was going to work on them to improve them. ...

Mac sales... aren't that.

I am pretty certain that BWY sails are sourced from http://www.thesailwarehouse.com ... or the same over seas supplier.

I've used The Sail Warehouse multiple times on multiple boats - have 2 on the Mac right now, and I am very happy. My advice, there's no need to wait, and no need to overspend.

But... I'm sure there are other opinions. So, factor them in, of course. But our sails are pretty simple cuts, pretty light dacron, etc.

By the time you add shipping from thesailwarehouse.com, BWY is cheaper... at least from my research. Judy's sails are roughly $100-150 more from my quick research but the killer for me is the lead times. I understand it's expensive to have product just sitting on shelves though.

[Judy B]

By the time you add shipping from thesailwarehouse.com, BWY is cheaper... at least from my research. Judy's sails are roughly $100-150 more from my quick research but the killer for me is the lead times. I understand it's expensive to have product just sitting on shelves though.

My sails are less expensive than BWY's, if you compare apples to apples. You have to compare Feature for feature: cloth, reefs, UV sun covers. We deliver by air anywhere in the USA for free, delivered to your door in 3-5 weeks.

[sailboatmike]

By the time you add shipping from thesailwarehouse.com, BWY is cheaper... at least from my research. Judy's sails are roughly $100-150 more from my quick research but the killer for me is the lead times. I understand it's expensive to have product just sitting on shelves though.

My sails are less expensive than BWY's, if you compare apples to apples. You have to compare Feature for feature: cloth, reefs, UV sun covers. We deliver by air anywhere in the USA for free, delivered to your door in 3-5 weeks.

I think the key here could well be quality, JudyB lists the materials, quality and expected performance and life span of her sails, BWY give limited information of on quality of the materials used, expected performance and life span on their sails.

BWY do say that their sails are a big improvement on the OEM sails, but I would think I have some old bed sheets that may also fit that description

[Bilgemaster]

I have read enough glowing comments about Judy's sail wares on this forum, even in the short time I've been aboard, that I have little doubt that when the time comes, she's who I'll be turning to for a new ensemble for my gal. The fact that she apparently supports this Forum is a bonus. As for price, my by now well-documented Harbor Freight cheapo tool fetish aside, I've found that if you just go a little bit more than the very cheapest option, you'll tend to be far more satisfied in the long run.

Seriously though, as I have already suggested in an earlier thread, you gold folks down in Oz need to pool your resources for some sort of annual shipping container of needful goodies to ameliorate those woeful shipping costs.

[sailboatmike]

We have a Mac dealer (we used to have a few) down here, but as with all things marine they charge like they need to make a months rent of each item they sell, the prices are normally around double or more what you would pay when converted to $US.

Its not like there is a shortage of Macs here, I would hazard a guess that there is more Mac X's and M's than many many of the "Popular" Australian built boats, what was considered a popular Australian built boat may of had a production run of maybe 250 boats, many of the larger Trailer boats (25 feet or more) only had production runs less than 100

[Neo]

250 Macs in Aus ... Thats interesting Mike .... I'd guess most of those are X's but with 250 kicking around it's surprising how few are up for sale. To be fair, in this day and age, I don't think anyone could make a business on just Mac parts in Aus.