I am just wondering If any has had a radial head main sail ,is the extra cost worth it . I have heard all kind of things but what is the facts and does a Nonsuch 33 preform better point higher? Sail faster? Or is that smoke. Thanks I am new to this , not sailing but the Nonsuch is a hole new world. Thanks jim
Hi Jim,
I purchased my Nonsuch in June of 2017. The boat came with a 3 year old crosscut sail by Doyle in East Greenwich, RI. The sea trial was conducted in veeeery light air and I had never seen a Nonsuch sail from the cockpit . It turns out, once I saw the sail in a breeze, that sail’s leech fell off to leeward. Not a very good sail for going upwind.
I had a new radial sail made by Thurston/Quantum of Bristol, RI. I am not happy with this sail’s appearance. The fore and aft curve is not fair, there is a bubble at mid-girth. There are also strange vertical wrinkles lower in the aft area of the sail. The sail is at the sailmaker’s loft this winter. Hopefully there will be an improvement.
The Radial sail has been effective in winning races. Most surprising to me is the ability to do a great job (we won) against a fleet of 8 Nonsuch 30 and 33s in a breeze between 18 and 24 MPH with 50% of the 24 mile course upwind. Did I mention my 33 is a shoal draft version?
The next time I buy a sail for this boat, I’ll make sure to get a sail from a loft that makes a lot of Nonsuch sails. My guess is that creating a good Nonsuch sail is more difficult than average due to the unstayed bendy mast.
IMHO the key to a great sail is buy it from someone who has made many Nonsuch sails and his customers give good recommendations. It is unique and the horror stories you hear often come from lofts that rarely make one.
Radial vs cross cut, no idea.
Replaced my 30+ year old cross-cut dacron sail for the 2018 season. Old sail tore in the fabric (not seam). about 4 feet perpendicular to the foot (near the middle of the foot) with a very strong puff when I was about 200 yards from the finish line – cost me a win, and it was time for a new sail. Sailmaker who repaired the tear in 2017 suggested that my sail had “sun rot” and I could expect more such incidents.
Replaced with a tri-radial from ZSails in Stamford (recommended by others in this group and by members of my club in Nyack, NY).
Performance much improved, by last season I was winning more races than not. Certainly a new sail which holds it shape was a contributing factor (and I like to think some improvement on the part of the skipper and crew as well, but who knows…).
I suspect that a new cross-cut sail would have gotten me most of the way there too – certainly in the first few years of use. Hope the tri-radial will do a better job of maintaining its shape over time.
We’ll see – with the Covid-19 emergency in our area, not sure how much of a season we’re going to have in 2020.
Tony Martin
Sheba Nonscuch 30C #212
Nyack Boat Club, Nyack, NY
P.S. Here are the features of the sail I purchased:
— Tri-radial Dacron
— Full length top batten
— Three long tapered leech battens
— Cunningham,
— Draft stripes r/b and Sail number 212 in red
— Class insignia
— Spectra Leech and foot line
— Tell tails with window
— Sail bag
— Chafe patches
Tony,
How many reefs?
Bob Dryer
30C#170
Ward, could you post a picture of your sail up? I was planning on having Thurston make a sail for my 26. I just started using them to clean and repair my very old sail that was made by Cressy in Marblehead, MA, as my old sail loft, Eastern Sails, just closed shop last summer. I live close to Bristol and Thurston came highly recommended. I was happy with the canvas repairs, but I haven’t put up the sail yet to check their work. Maybe next week. Thanks.
Brendan Keefe
Skylark NS26 #38
Marion, MA
Hi Brendan -
I have no idea who Thurston is (though I am sure they are good). Have they made more than one or two Nonsuch sails ?? I ask (and so should you) because, it seems that, regardless of the reputation of the loft, IF the loft has not cut its teeth by making a fair amount of these unique sails, problems ALWAYS seem to arise. At least, that’s what I’ve read on this bulletin board, over the years.
Personally, I would go with a loft that has a LOT of experience with our kind of sails. You sail an N26 which is a fair size chunk of cloth (and change). Do not be a guinea pig regardless of what the loft says that they can do - you will truly regret it.
Also, I would not worry if you find the right loft at the right price but it’s not close by. If it’s got the reputation and the reputation from our community, go with them. I’m in Toronto and I had a new cruising sail built by MACK in Stuart, Florida. I sent them my old (North) sail. They copied it (and improved upon it) and the price was right (actually, REALLY right). I’d highly recommend MACK. They build their sails in their loft, in Florida, not halfway around the world.
That, sir, is my 2 cents (but, I bet, right around now would be an excellent time to strike a fine deal on a new sail by the right loft).
Ernie A. in Toronto
