On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 18:09:17 -0400, Ryk
wrote:


I agree. I've been really lucky in finding a lot of good sails that
meet my needs without breaking the bank. I found it much easier to
locate spinnakers that fit the boat because there's a lot more room in
the dimensioning. For example, the one I mentioned above is a little
taller and a little narrower than "normal" for the boat, but fits just
inside the PHRF rules for overall size.

Well, imagine if you are not sailing to a rule! There's a few sites
that provide reasonably accurate "rig data" for foretriangles and
mainsails, and if they have a simple Excel-style "greater than/less
than" database in place, you can actually determine which models of
boat will likely provide used sails that will fit your boat with
little or no cutting/alteration. For me, it's a 14-15 foot J with a 39
foot luff, which means I lurk around a lot of mid-70s, C&C-dominated
club race fleets...G. Those guys chuck out some great stuff.

I've also sold a number of Atomic 4 spares or traded in kind. It's
quite entrepreneurial, this sailing game.

R.