Sail Purchase Frustration

I recently had my Genoa split in two. It was an old sail and not worthy of the expense to repair so I am in the market for new sails (My main is of the same age and likely to fail soon too.)

My frustrations:

1. I have a very standard boat - a Catalina 42 - over 1,000 in use. Why does it seem to take two or three weeks for sail lofts to get back to me with a quote? At this level of customer service why should I expect that they will deliver on time as promised?

2. I have been unable to find a single source of a side by side comparison of sails by major manufacturers. Lots of testimonials - "I bought a sail from xyz loft and it is great." How do they know its great? What other loft's sails did they try? None of the major magazines seem to have ever published comparisons. What I am looking for is something like the multitude of anchor comparisons that one finds in various publications. Is the reality that all lofts are pretty much the same?

PS - re #2 - perhaps there is a significant difference in lofts when purchasing high end racing sails. I am looking for blue water offshore sails




I will keep you posted on my experiences




Fair Winds and Following Seas