Sails from China

[aquapore]

I have been told that there are suppliers of sails in China that will make to specification at good price. I heard that their product is excellent and prices exceptional.
I have not got (as yet) contact details for those suppliers.

Does anyone have any experience with mail order sails from China.

Regards

Aquapore

[patprice]

I got my first sails from China, Hong Kong anyway in about 1975. A drifter and a spinnaker from Lee Sails.

More recently I have had a genoa from Far East Sails. In all cases I have been happy with the sails and yes they are cheap. My brother had a problem with the Sunbrella UV cover of a sail from Far East Sails and there response support was exceptional.

[IslandAlchemy]

I've heard good reports from others on these people

http://www.hksailmakers.com/

[Anthony]

I have bought sails from Hyde, a UK maker that manufactures in Phillipines with excellent quality control. Got 2 genoas and main all tri-radial cruising laminate as well as mainsail cover which was truly well made.

[Yngmar]

Among several others, I asked http://www.leesails.com/ to quote for a new Genoa last year. They have a good reputation and their quote looked very good at first, but once I've added UK import tax & duty (using http://www.dutycalculator.com/ - select "Sails - of synthetic fabric"), it came out slightly more expensive than the competing (UK based, although not all of them UK made) offers.

So for me, it wouldn't have been worth it, especially with the added risk of paying another round of very high shipping fees (US$ 277 one way) if there's any issues, plus hassles with bank transfers. But if your boat is somewhere with better import rates or you can arrange your own shipping from Hong Kong, it may be worth it for you.

Good UK based quotes I received were from Dolphin sails (Oyster suppliers), Hood (actually made by Kemp) and Sanders (whose Genoa I'm very pleased with). Elvstrøm could not compete on price and could not explain why the same spec sail would cost 35% more from them (I suspect this is because I made the mistake of asking through a local representative, which adds his profit).

[Salty]

I'd agree with Yngmar, if you had any warranty issues, or any other problems it's much easier to take it up with a local supplier than it is with a firm on the far side of the world. It's either got to be a very very competetive price, at which point you'd need to ask yourself whether what you were buying was going to be up to the quality you would want, or that's where your boat is based and you're back to a local supplier. The tax point is also something to think about very carefully.

[patprice]

Salty
My brother, in Tasmania, had a problem with a China sail in that it seemed the UV cover did not protect the sail properly and the sail tore after 3 years. The company paid the freight for return to China then the company replaced the sail at 1/2 cost of a new sail and free freight. Same cost as first purchase.

This was done on the basis the sail did give 3 years service.

Pretty good service I believe so did my brother.

Interestingly, brother sent a bit of the UV Sunbrella to Sunbrella and heard nothing !!

I have no business interest in Far East Sails

sails@fareastsails.com

[ZhuHai]

This winter, I ordered a new main sail with Lee Sails. Here a previous post on the subject (http://www.bavariayacht.info/forum/index.php/topic,1052.0.html)



After 4 months of cruising the Aegean, I´m very happy with the sail. Better quality than the standard Elvstrom. I got it for a very good price because I was in HK at this time so I avoided VAT and transport.