Jeckells and Hyde
Modern sails don’t simply rip, unless you’ve given them a real pounding. But there are other tell-tale signs that they’re growing long in the tooth.
“Generally a woven sail needs replacing once the sail has become baggy or misshaped as the performance will suffer and this means that the draft in the sail has moved aft making the sail much deeper and harder to trim,” explains Norfolk sailmaker Chris Jeckells.
He suggests taking a photo up the sail every year and drawing a line between the luff and the leech to identify the draft. “Also, if you need a lot of helm to go in a straight line this is a good indication that your sails are baggy,” he adds.
Main and headsail
A good sail loft will already have the template for thousands of different makes and models of boat, and should be able to produce a sail without visiting the boat or taking measurements. You’ll just need your basic rig measurements to double check (known as P, E, I and J).
Only after discussing your plans for the boat will the sailmaker recommend a design or a fabric weight to suit. “When sizing cloth, I always look at what the customer wants from
