The Process of Replacing or Buying Sails for the First Time

By Glenn Selvin
Ullman Sails Newport Beach

When looking at buying sails for your boat, either as replacement or your first new boat needing sails, the biggest question that I’m going to have for you is the style of sailing that you do. Do you race the boat, cruise or daysail? What are the conditions that you normally sail in? These are just a couple of the important questions that help easily answer the what, when and why of your next sail purchase.

While there are plenty of types of sails out there ranging from golliwompers, fishermen, and in the old days, bloopers, but for most of us, sails simply come in three different forms.  

• Mainsails
• Genoas and jibs
• Spinnakers, both symmetric and the new asymmetric gennakers

Let’s discuss these three sails, and the options that are available, starting first with the staple of our sailing inventory, the mainsail.

Mains come in a couple of configurations, but overall, there’s just not a lot of options.  An important question that your sailmaker is going to ask is whether or not you’d like full battens vs. the standard shorter leech battens only.  Both are solid choices. I feel full batten mainsails are easier to flake, as upon lowering, the full battens have a tendency to stack up nicely, helping to keep the sail on the boom, especially if you have lazy jacks!

The only other options on the main is simply one set of reef points or two, and whether or not you’d like a sail logo insignia, sail numbers and draft stripes.  Pretty simply stuff.  Of course, this assumes a standard hoist up main with slides, slugs, or bolt rope.  If you have an in mast furling system, that changes the dialogue on the types of battens, as in mast furling mains have either no battens or vertical battens, but for the sake of this article, we’ll assume it’s a standard main that you hoist up.  

The other upwind sail is the jib, or if we’re using the correct terminology, a genoa.  Generally, if a sail is 110%  LP  or smaller, it’s actually a jib, while those that are larger are called genoas.  

The biggest question while discussing your headsail is whether it’s a hank on or a furling sail. The sailmaking for both are nearly identical in design, shape and construction. Though naturally, the finish work is different in that the hank on simply has hanks, while the furling genoa uses a bolt rope, which slides up your head foil as part of your furling system.  The luff lengths are different, because the luff length of the furling genoa has to take into account the offsets of the furling components. 

When looking at the headsail, the biggest question that I’m going to have for you is the style of sailing that you do, whether you race the boat or cruise it, and the conditions that you normally sail in, as all of these will go towards the size sail, or the LP that makes the most sense. 

Headsails generally come in three sizes…..call it small, medium or large.  Small? A 100% or maybe a 110%, also called a lapper or a working sail.  Medium would generally be a 135%, and your largest sail would be about a 150% genoa.

Do you normally sail in a heavy air venue such as San Francisco bay or Hurricane Gulch in San Pedro?  A 110% would be perfect.  This is the sail size to enjoy the day of sailing with friends and don’t want to be overpowered. 

Are you the type that wants the power, and doesn’t mind working for it?  A 135% is a good all-around sail, not too big where you’re on your ear all the time, though not as anemic as the lapper.  And if your sail is on a furler, as most are, it’s a sail that can be partially furled. A foam luff system would help keep the sail shape as you furl the sail up part way.

Do you sail in a lighter air venue?  Or do you race the boat with five guys on the rail?  A 150% headsail is the bee’s knees, but just know that it can be a bit of a work out. 

So when you’re ordering that new headsail, the sailmaker is going to ask you a lot of questions. It is important to first determine what size sail you’re thinking. This lends to making sure you’re getting the correct genoa for your sailing needs.

Thinking of more fun downwind?  Let’s talk about spinnakers.

The spinnaker will either be a asymmetric or a symmetric by design and construction. 

These days, many of us are using gennakers, asymmetrical sails that tack down to the bow and that don’t require a pole or any of the rigging that goes with that pole such as the topping lift, foreguy, etc.  Simply tack it down, either to a fixed point at the bow or with a tack line, run the sheets, and hoist it up.  If you’re doing more cruising than racing consider using a snuffer, making the sets and the douses a whole lot easier!

Symmetric spinnakers, not as popular but just Google image “spinnaker” and the first image you get is a symmetrical. It’s a balanced design and is set up with a spinnaker pole, and all of the rigging that goes with it. This symmetric design lets the spinnaker really get in front of the boat and performs best when the wind is aft of the beam.

The size of the spinnakers are simply calculations of the hoist dimension, and of the J, which is the measurement between the tack fitting and the mast.  Your sailmaker will calculate the size of the spinnaker based on the rig measurements.  If we’re talking about a gennaker, we can discuss sails that sail deeper vs. a Code 0 which is more of a reaching sail, though that’s certainly a great discussion for another day.  For the sake of this discussion, let’s just assume a standard, all purpose gennaker.

When looking at sailmakers, it’s more about proven designs, quality goods & finish work and customer service. There are plenty of offshore lofts out there that sell just off of the internet. They’re going to rely on you to do the measuring, with big disclaimers if a sail doesn’t fit, because after all, you’re the one that did the measuring!  Set aside those internet sailmakers, and stick with the names that you know, such as Ullman Sails, as part of a cadre of large, US based sailmakers. As long as there’s a loft near you, someone will be pleased to answer your questions and be able to meet you at your boat to measure ensuring that the sail that they produce fits.

Don’t be nervous if you’ve never bought sails before or not sure of what is the next sail your boat needs.  Those of us in the sail making business know what questions to ask and will guide you towards buying the sail that is right for you.  We’ll make sure that everything is measured properly, because ultimately we want to build you a sail that fits right out of the bag and gets you sailing!

More questions?  Feel like a good discussion?  Email is always best.  I can be reached at gselvin@ullmansails.com

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