I have two estimates for a new battened furling main. I do mostly cruising but may start some club racing. Doyle Sails came in at 2K, LG Sails (Luis) at 3.2K. Does anyone have experiences to share with about these two lofts? They both seem pretty good from what I read. Thanks.
I haven't heard anything bad or good about Doyle's SD loft and you already know my experience with LG Sails. However, if you are considering racing, you will need a folding or feathering prop to have any hope of being competitive. So, if you don't already have one then you would need to add that to the list. Also know that in-main furling is a disadvantage that, in my opinion, you may not get enough handicap points to overcome even with vertical battens. My opinion might be wrong though. You might ask the sail lofts what they think. There is a San Diego Catalina owners club that is only like $35/year and includes monthly races with the Silvergate Yacht Club. It is a good place to try out some racing in SD if you are a Catalina owner and possibly to also get some more opinions on local sail lofts.
Thanks joining now! Looks like a good group. Have a feathering prop.
Krafty,
I'd hold off ordering that new main and go ahead and race what you've got until you know how serious a racer you want to be. Are you a Wet Wednesday, beer can racer where you go out with friends to drink a few beers and sharpen your skills or do you want to run up front? Those are two completely different sails, it'd be a bummer if you bought a high tech competition sail (expensive) that you don't use very much but worse is a brand new sail that just isn't up to the kind of performance you need.
As a lot of us already know racing can get really serious really fast (aka expensive) as an example what's the first response to your thread, Awesome34 said you need to get a performance prop, depending on the prop that could cost more than your main and that's just the beginning depending on where you want to run in the pack. Race what you've got and you'll see what you need.
I agree with scgunner that you may want to race what you have first and see whether it's something you want to do or not and how competitive you want to be because it can get expensive fast and there is a lot to learn. I don't think it will, necessarily, become clear where to spend your money if you want better results though. I can tell you from personal experience as someone who raced with a fixed prop and then got a folding prop that, for us, it was the most impactful thing that we did to improve performance. So even if you just want to sail faster while cruising, if you currently have a fixed prop, getting a folding/feathering prop to reduce drag could be a better investment than a new sail.
Thanks great advice! I edited above to note that I have a feathering prop. I am looking for fun club racing as and faster cruising.
Krafty,
Just to get some idea of how crazy things can get last year I ordered a jib from Ullman Sails while there I saw a very large charcoal main on the layout floor when I asked about it he said it was awaiting a set of custom carbon fiber battens from Italy, cost: $50,000!