New sails for N12

[Stephen Hawkins]

I have just spent an informative afternoon at a sail maker looking at making a set of sails for my N12 Starfish, Sparkle.

I was looking for a dacron set, which are now pretty thin on the ground for a nearly new second hand set, as the front of the current fleet are all using mylar, etc. So '1 season old' sails are of that nature, which is not appropriate for a classic.

Having waited for something appropriate to come up, with no avail, for a year, I finally started looking at a new set - or just living with my old set.

Those makers that are making sails for the front of the fleet, seem to be very expensive. Near 3 times what I paid for the boat. And the 'also rans' are close behind on price, i.e. £800 to £950 for the front runners. Not an option.

Now, I am never going to be at the front of any fleet, so I was looking for an alterative. The thing with a N12 is that the measurements are not fixed - except for the total sail area (90 sq. ft or the equiv. in metric) and some extreme measurements that should not be exceeded, so you can, if you have the confidence and knowledge, vary the ratio of the available sail area between the main and the jib. Although for my needs my old set 1980's set were pretty close to the correct ratio for my design (65:25), which is also actually close to a modern ratios.

So I took my old 1980's set, with its loose foot main, down to Clevedon, to R&J sails and was met by Dick Hannaford. We then took some measurements, added/confirmed them to those measurements written on the sails, when they were measured back in the 1980's, consulted the rule book, then came up with a set of measurements close to those of the old set and still conforming with the rule book. Dick Hannaford then tooks lots of other measurements, especially of the jib - its not just a triangle with a bit added on the foot!

I take delivery of the new set in August for £456.00. I could have had them for £415 if they were being made of a softer material (i.e. medium).

I came across R&J sails as my son's British moth sail is made by them, and that seems to set very well (not that I am an expert). Also the moth sail is a very similar shape to my old N12 mainsail, just a little shorter.

So I am confident that I will have a set of sails that will be a significant improvement to the 30 year old sails I am currently running with, just maybe not quite cutting edge as the best at the head of the fleet.

But you have to cut your cloth....I will let you all know how I get on next month when I pick them up.

Cheers

Steve H

[Stephen Hawkins]

I have taken delivery of my new sails.

I am very happy with them. They are of excellent quality and seem to set well, and the boat seems to point well with them.

However it will not be until I race with the dastardly Solo's will I really know.

Not that I am expecting to beat them, although my classic National 12 PY (1145) says I should be ahead of them!

Now I just need to shed a couple of stone to get down to the ideal crew weight....Too many pies....Too manfy fpies....chomp, chomp.....

Later...

[Rupert]

R&J make excellent sails and a very good price - my red and white Minisail main comes from there, and British Moth Roger has had a fair few sails made there, including a very nice BM pin top main. He also makes sand yacht mains, I believe.

Look forward to seeing the new sail at some point soon.