new sails

[Scott]

i am wondering if there are any reports on the quality and performance of intensity sails both main and jig from those who bought them as i am in need of new sails thanks

[Geronimo]

Hello,
I was able to try my new set of Intensity sails a few weekends ago. We had an unseasonably warm weekend at the Jersey Shore with 8-12 knot winds both days. The main has a flatter cut than I'm used to, but I thought the same thing about my friends's Jotz main. The jib has a beautiful foil shape.

As stated in other posts, the sails come complete with everything......tell-tales, windows, reef points (1) , cunningham cringle, tapered battens, numbers, bags...........

In a nutshell, these sails should be perfect for me as we only race in a Portsmouth Yardstick series a few weekends a year.

[talbot]

Well, I haven't owned a new set of sails since I was 13, so all I have to compare to is the original bedsheets that have flown on my boats for the past 20 years.

But we've enjoyed the Intensity sails. For years I've been going through the motions of sail trim (e.g., blocks forward and vang slack in light air; blocks back and vang tight in high wind, etc.) without perceiving any actual difference in the performance of my blown-out sails. Suddenly, a minor improvement in sail trim creates an acceleration -- literally a kick in the butt.

A couple of notes: The sails seem marginally larger than my old Pryde's, based on where my boom and clew end up when the lines are tight. There were a couple of loose threads on the fabric edges. The jib comes with a bag for rolling the sail, the main comes with a conventional sail bag. To preserve the crinkly stiff quality of the new sails, I replaced the main storage bag with an 8-foot double ski case. I may ask our local sail maker (Sailmaker's Art) to build me a 10-foot long bag, which would avoid my having to crease over the last 2 feet of the foot and leech.

From my admittedly low standards as a non-racer, the performance is fine. I'm curious how these will hold up over time, but I'm not going to worry about it now. Supposed to be 75 degrees this weekend, clear, NW winds 8-10 knots. Carpe diem.