Who has bought sails from Asia/Indo ? ?

[Ken]

I have a main sail being made by Far East Sails, I checked out two Aussie sailmakers no response, Far East communication great, helped through the process, price seems good, just awaiting the finished product
Looking forward to see how it all goes.
Ken

[megawatt]

Has anyone bought sails from Asia or Indo ?
Any feedback or suggestions ?
I don't want to enter into the escape spending argument please.

Ive contacted a couple of overseas lofts for quotes, but it seems they always flick me onto the Aussie distributor.
I want to deal directly with the sailmaker, not someone who is taking a cut for onsending it to me.

Sail will be a main for a ross780.

Loong Sails UK
Just make sure you measure your boat accurately. I used 3 rings and connected them in a triangle with single core electrical wire (no stretch) and hoisted top ring with halyard, attached each other ring to tack and sheet line. You can then adjust exactly where each ring will sit from the deck. Carefully lower and then layout on lawn and peg the the rings out tight using tent pegs. Get someone to help measure the distance between each of the load bearing points. Provide Micheal at Loong Sails the dimensions and get a quote. I have got 2 sails from him just recently and both are brilliantly made. Once you have sent your payment to their Hong Kong bank account the sail arrives on your doorstep literally before the local guy has read his tea leaves. Local guy quoted $1700 for my RFG and it cost me $700 landed at my doorstep with more fruit on it. It took about 8 days from go to whoa, nothing short of amazing.
Also instead of using a bank to transfer the money (they trade in USD) I used Transferwise to shift the money. They only charge about $10 and give you the going actual exchange rate. The transfer takes about 5 days and is the longest part of the process.
It really pays to do your homework first and remember to be very clear about what you want as it cost you about US$150 to send it back for any alterations.
https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/ ... y0pVY3CbGo

[koalasailor]

New Main and Jib together with sail bags arrived from Fareast Sails today.
Received quote and confirmed 5thJan. Shipped 3rd. March arrived 6th March with apology for being slow due to one week holiday for Chinese New Year . Very thorough regarding measurements etc. Pretty Good. I cannot complain about quality as they look really well made I can’t wait to see how they fly .

How did those sails work out for you? Any thoughts?

[Castle 610]

I used Jamie Thompson here in Melbourne for new sails and they were competitve price wise with Far East. He also came to my house to measure my boat (he was in the area...).

[Tezza]

New Main and Jib together with sail bags arrived from Fareast Sails today.
Received quote and confirmed 5thJan. Shipped 3rd. March arrived 6th March with apology for being slow due to one week holiday for Chinese New Year . Very thorough regarding measurements etc. Pretty Good. I cannot complain about quality as they look really well made I can’t wait to see how they fly .

How did those sails work out for you? Any thoughts?

To me they are really well made and the hardwear a good quality except with the sail bags the stitching is crap, go figure. One caution is make 110% sure your measurements are accurate. eg. I got the distance from where the tack cringle on the main is attached to the gooseneck to the top of the boom wrong by a few mm and with a bolt rope foot looks a bit stretched in the corner. See below photo in next posting It wouldn't matter with a loose foot or slugs Also for me the clew cringles are a little small and I would nominate larger ones.

[Tezza]

[Jon]

I recently got a new #1 and #3 from Far East. Both had minor quality control issues.

#1 missed a gromet and a piston hank.

#3 had the draft strip not stiched down.

Far East solution was to give me a partial refund and airfreight out the tooling required to install a grommet and a new piston hank.

Far East were prompt in fixing my concerns, fast and at a good price point. The sails work well and I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Also the sailbag stitching is poor, one bag failed at first use.

[koalasailor]

I used Jamie Thompson here in Melbourne for new sails and they were competitve price wise with Far East. He also came to my house to measure my boat (he was in the area...).

Like how competitive? could you PM me some details?

I ask because I bought my boat secondhand and I'm not sure the mainsail is actually the correct size. That, plus my inexperience, and the fact that someone else said youneed to be 110% accurate with your measurements, makes me think I might need to buy sails locally from someone that will be accountable for measuring up as well.

[Tezza]

Just looked at your past post. Being a 36 foot yacht and your experience I would definitely
get a sailmaker to measure up and test with a sail with you onbiard. What make of boat?

[DIGGER-NZ]

My new main is in the drafting phase at the moment. So far they've been very helpful.

[Castle 610]

I used Jamie Thompson here in Melbourne for new sails and they were competitve price wise with Far East. He also came to my house to measure my boat (he was in the area...).

Like how competitive? could you PM me some details?

I ask because I bought my boat secondhand and I'm not sure the mainsail is actually the correct size. That, plus my inexperience, and the fact that someone else said youneed to be 110% accurate with your measurements, makes me think I might need to buy sails locally from someone that will be accountable for measuring up as well.

Well it was close enough or even cheaper than buying abroad so l went with him.

[koalasailor]

Just looked at your past post. Being a 36 foot yacht and your experience I would definitely
get a sailmaker to measure up and test with a sail with you onbiard. What make of boat?

That's good advice! What do you mean test with a sail? LIke they'd make it and then test? or have random sails about to test with my mast? or test with the sails that Ive got. The mainsail that came with it might be slightly too small. A more experienced sailor pointed out the sail looks like it's off another boat.

I haven't been able to figure out who made the boat is but it's not a production boat. It's timber and was built in 1955 in Tasmania. That's really all I know off the paperwork Iv'e got! Here's a picture.

[Tezza]

Just looked at your past post. Being a 36 foot yacht and your experience I would definitely
get a sailmaker to measure up and test with a sail with you onbiard. What make of boat?

That's good advice! What do you mean test with a sail? LIke they'd make it and then test? or have random sails about to test with my mast? or test with the sails that Ive got. The mainsail that came with it might be slightly too small. A more experienced sailor pointed out the sail looks like it's off another boat.

I haven't been able to figure out who made the boat is but it's not a production boat. It's timber and was built in 1955 in Tasmania. That's really all I know off the paperwork Iv'e got! Here's a picture.

Ok, there are a couple of alternatives . Im not sure you realise how much a new sail for that size boat will be but figure on over two grand for a main.
I would ask for an indicative quote using the attached for a dacron sail. They will want for a main E P I measurement initially. Dont use anything that will stretch to measure with . I can be a guestamit .
If you are happy with the quote ask for them to come and measure up. If out of your price range ask if they have a second hand sail they can cut to size.
OR
Do your measurements and contact ‘sail exchange’ . They may have something to suit.
With the money involved for new sails on a boat that big ask the sailmaker to fit the sail .
Not sure they would go for a sail these days for anything under ten grand but ask anyway.

Good luck

[koalasailor]

Thanks heaps!!

[Rcracing2]

There really isn't any reason to go overseas directly to have your sails built these days. There are quite a few asian lofts that build sails to spec from anyones design. I.e your local sailmaker measures your boat, designs the sails to suit and gets another loft to build it to the given specs, using the same materials available over here but at a fraction of the cost. There's benefits to both sides. The sailmaker doesn't have to be crawling around the floor for 10-14 hours making your main and you get a cheaper sail with the same materials. I used to be a sailmaker for a very large international loft and ran my own business but margins are small and loft space is expensive to rent so if the turnover isn't there it becomes unviable. Hence why sails can be rather expensive.
Id talk to the local guy about your needs and find out if they can get them from overseas. At least that way you'll have someone close to ask questions and get advice from and know there will be some sort of backing to the product. I know first hand the type of reaction your going to get from a sailmaker when you walk in with a new far east sail saying it doesn't fit or its to deep....
There are ways to stay local but get the most bang for your buck.

[bull sails]

By all means shop around and get prices, but don’t forget with the AUD down around 0.70c. The local independent loft without corporate overheads is pretty competitive these days. So don’t overlook the benefits of shopping Australian made local and keeping the $’s here.
So include them in your shopping agenda.

[zebedee]

Not to mention the pleasure of having the sailmaker randomly approach you in Paynesville and ask how the new mainsail is performing 8 months later.

John Hooper, Cheltenham!

[DIGGER-NZ]

Just to update all, after a few months of me fluffing around triple checking my measurements I ordered. Sail took about 3 weeks to be made and arrived in a week (4 days early).

I put it on the boat last weekend to make sure all looked fine. Initial thoughts are, it fits and has a lovely shape to it. As for quality, I don’t know as I only have a baggy old one to compare to. Time will tell I guess.

I found the guy (Michael) to be very helpful through the whole process. Going from fixed to loose foot I had some concerns and questions around changes to fitting it etc and he was more than helpful on suggesting the best way to go, or possible alterations.

It’s been a long process, I started in February but COVID is to blame as I was ready to order when we went into lockdown.

I’m hoping to get out tomorrow for a test sail.

[rseydler]

Pics or it didn't happen

[DIGGER-NZ]

I can’t seem to get them to upload off my iPad, think my iPhone is too high quality