Finding the right sail doesn't have to be a nightmare, says author Karen Buhler Gale.

Finding the right sail doesn't have to be a nightmare, says author Karen Buhler Gale.



Sailing, like medicine or voodoo, has its own special language. In medicine stomach growling is borborygmi, in voodoo houngonikon for party planner, the initials I, J, P, E for rig dimensions necessary to make a sail. For those in the know, the insider-ease creates a clubby feeling and facilitates communication. For the rest of us, teetering on the cusp of knowledge, it creates blind panic and blank stares. Buying a sail for your boat is no different. If you are purchasing a new sail there are going to be specific things the sail maker is going to want to know:

1. Make, model and year of your boat; what kind of rig does it have and has it been modified, if so how?.

2. Where you plan to sail what kind of sailing you are planning on doing (racing, cruising or both)

.3. Why you are buying a new sail-to get better performance, replace a sail, changing location or type of sailing.

4. What your priorities are between performance, price, durability, and multiple uses.

The more information the sailmaker has about you, the more likely you are to get a sail that exactly suits your needs. Most sailmakers, including Hasse & Company Port Townsend Sails whose seminar I attended as part of the National Women's Sailing Association Conference last August (see previous two columns), like to measure the rigs themselves. If that is not possible, most sail makers will have very specific self-measurement forms and need to know if ordering a headsail if it will be on roller-furling or hanked on. Hasse's forms are downloadable on their website at www.porttownsendsails.com.

Taking a good picture of your rig-gooseneck, genoa track location, headsail tack fitting, furling gear, etc-and sending it along with the measurements can help significantly in getting a good shape and fit. And measuring your old sail, simply won't do. It would be like asking your tailor to make you a new dress/suit simply by measuring the old one.

Pride has no place here. Fess up that you are new to the sailing/sail buying process and ask lots of questions, simple advice but well worth repeating and heeding. The great thing is sailors welcome everyone into the club even if you are blindly stumbling in.