SAIL CARE

[PAUL T.]

I read an ad recently that claims to clean and re-resin your sails for about $200.00 per sail. The company is SAIL CARE. Has anybody had any experience or knowledge of this prosess? They claim to make your sails white as new. THANKS in advance.....PAUL

[Stu Jackson]

Good Old Boat magazine gave them a good write up in one of their earlier issues a few years ago.

[Tweetybd]

Hi, Paul

We had our old main cleaned by SailCare a couple of years ago.  The sail, which already was at the end of its useful life (if by "useful" you mean that it has a fairly decent shape) came back sparkling clean and noticeably stiffer.

However, it also seemed to have shrunk a bit along the foot, since the foot now couldn't be pulled-out to its previous location on the boom (but, perhaps, that was due to the sail being stiffer and not as able to be stretched by the outhaul.

I do believe that the process enabled us to get by with the main for an extra couple of years, until we replaced it last November.

Jon

[Tom Glennon]

I had used SailCare for both the genoa and mainsail on my catalina 30 years ago.  They came back great! The "Lumonie" method they use for reimpregnating the sails really seemed to work.

[c34member]

I've had sails from four different boats through their cleaning and LaMauney Process; and one required extensive repairs which they handled well.  I have spoken with them on the telephone and at boat shows and trust them highly.  Their work does cause a pucker in older, stretched-out sails, but it is a way to get a few more years out of a baggy, "blown" set of sails.  

I'm sending mine there in a couple seasons.

[reedbr]

On a previous boat, a Catalina 22, they sails had recently been refreshed and repaired by Sail Care when I bought it.  The job looked excellent and the sails had that like-new krinkle to them. I wasn't able to compare before and after shape though.

Brian Reed
1997 C34 mkII "Ambitious"
Solomons, MD

[pklein]

Used them on my 10 year old factory sails.  They came back looking like new.  Had them replace the UV protection panels on the RF Genoa with blue sunbrella to match my dodger and sail cover.  Again-complete satisfaction.  I'm not a racer.  Clean sails won't make you go faster, but you'll feel proud.
They usually have an annual sale. Ask them when the sale period is.  They will tell you.  I believe the saving is 10% or better.

Phill Klein
Andiamo #977
Montrose Harbor - Chicago

[Albreen]

An update to an older post: Sailcare just returned my older, stained and very dirty mainsail. I am overjoyed with how clean, white, and stiff their process has left the cloth. This exceeds expectations by far and I can't wait to put the sail up next spring to see the sailshape. I also initially thought they had replaced a very soiled sailbag until realizing it was mine! This was a recommendation I heard here from a few members and thought to give it a try. Couldn't be happier. 

[Stu Jackson]

I used them, too, many years ago.  Same good results.  Two things to keep in mind:  The process will not, never, ever, improve sail shape; the process shrinks the sail a little bit that no amount of halyard, outhaul or sheet pressure will bring back (maybe two inches on the foot of my main).  Just be aware of these two things, they're NOT deal breakers.  Sail Care does work.

[Albreen]

"The process will not, never, ever, improve sail shape"

Stu - I agree 100% - short of a new sail or perhaps a recut workable sail, I have no illusion to an improved sailshape. I was more interested in getting the sail cleaned. Mission accomplished - it will look great. Actually, without benefit of getting the sail on the boat, I'm slightly concerned for just the opposite.  After sending the sail out, I read here (or perhaps on another site) comments about how the Sailcare process shortened one or all of the sail edge dimensions. Wouldn't this be detrimental to sailshape? Have you heard from others or experienced this yourself when you used the service? With our long winter here in the northeast, I can only wait to see. As usual, your comments are appreciated.