Best place to buy a new Laser sail? (USA)

GeoffS

Member
Hi all,

My garage door opener just pulled my best full-rig sail off it's shelf and mangled it pretty throughly. Man am I bummed. I guess I need to buy a new one. Any suggestions on the best (cheapest) place to get it? I can do numbers and tell-tales myself. I see that APS and Collie both sell the North sail for $483 (give or take a few cents). Is there anyplace significantly cheaper?

Cheers,

Geoff S.
145234
 
My vote ( even though this is not a poll...and polls are fun) is you check first with your local Laser dealer.
I sure hope you have a Laser dealer nearby so that is possible.

The main reason is life long convenience. Perhaps this week you have time to wait for a part of sail from somewhere else. If you rip your sail on a Friday night and the race is Saturday? That local dealer with whom you have a great relationship just might meet you at the store for an after hours or early opening emergency purchase.
It is always great to have a well stocked set of shelves in your home town. it is even better when there are new boats in stock and all the gear you want. it is even better when the dealer is doing well and sells lots of new Lasers and your fleet grows and grows and grows.

Bear in ind, at a small local dealer you may have to pay a bit more for the same product. If the guy has to fight for every penny with higher volume dealerships, he will not be able to afford the interest on unsold stock or pay rent for the floorspace for those items you and your friends want.

If there is no local dealer...Buy from a reputable seller who advertises in the Laser Sailor or at the top of this page.... same reasons as above but local for you is a larger area and those who support your game ought to be rewarded.
 
Hey got to West Coast sailing who's add is at the top of the page and buy from him cause he is workin hard to make a successful buisness and you can't beat it when he is the same price as collie and aps but he has free shipping. and gouvernail makes a really good point by suggesting the importance in becoming good freinds with your local dealer. i did this and have saved alot of money in the past.
 
I have worked (in a pervious life)for a marine supplier and I don't understand why you would not go to the local shop and just be honest and say $XXX.XX is what the competition sells the sail for. Can you match it???....all folks in the store want to sell you a sail and you want to buy one, why not do this exchange at a fair price in your area?

Just a thought
 
GeoffS said:
...My garage door opener just pulled my best full-rig sail off it's shelf and mangled it pretty throughly. ... Is there anyplace significantly cheaper?
Hey Geoff,
great to see you have not got lost somewhere at Wisconsin with your DN in the hardwater :) :)
Another posibility to get a good price for a new sail probably is Scott from TLF-THEBOATHOUSE, why not send him an email, too?
Good sailing and success in your races on your DN's
LooserLu
(In the moment, it's to warm here for frozen-water-projects ... :O| )
 
$483!! Even in US dollars, that's a steal. our local sells North Sails for around $850CDN. I recently bought a new sale from a NJ store that advertised in the newsletter. I have about $150 CDN, even with delivery etc.
 
I concur with those that recomend West Coast Sailing. They ship fast and free and are great to work with. Customer service is worth more than most discounts.
 
Laser76489 said:
Exactly!!! so why not buy from YOUR local shop? That way they will still be there when YOU need them.


Could be free at the local shop wouldn't matter because I don't have one around me. So for all intents and purposes the 483 I'm going to get online is local .... not just for me but for alot of people.


-K
 
very simple: who ever offers you a good price and great service.

--------
for our shop, I work very, very hard to make our customers happy. Happy customers come back and happy customers tell friends.

Yes, price is part of that, for a sail, probably a large part.

But, I do firmly believe that serivce, before, during and after a sale is what people this day and age really want to get for their money.


For us, that means yes,we sell for the lowest price possible.

But it also means we ship free to the entire USA (and pretty cheap worldwide).

We always include your sail numbers at no charge.

We install those numbers on your sail for free as well.

During the off seasons, we'll do special bonus promotions like we have now with the free clew strap.

------
We're here basically 7 days a week answering e-mails, phones and helping indivduals. Our best customers are Laser sailors, and almost our entire company revolves around them.

I bust my tail to earn your business, and I bust my tail to keep it that way.
 
First place you should always go is your local dealer. If they get your support its a lot easier for them to support you. You might even strike up a conversation with them regarding running a series sponsoring a regatta, etc. If you bring a deal like WestCoasts to them they will usually match it and then some. We all have to advertise sails at $483 it doesn't mean they all get sold for that. We give all our local fleet members 10% off to start with. For the North American crowd go to www.TeamVanguard.com and check the dealer locator. GeoffS there's a place called the MadisonBoathouse (no relation the The "real" Boathouse) right in your town. And KWilson you'd do yourself a favor by driving the 40 miles to meet the folks at the Dinghy Shop in Amityville who are plugged into the Laser scene all over your area. If you truly don't have anyone near you then support WestCoast as he's just starting out and spending all his hard earn money advertising on this board.:)
 
"If you truly don't have anyone near you then support WestCoast as he's just starting out and spending all his hard earn money advertising on this board."


Scott speaks the truth! ;)
 
TheBoathouse said:
And KWilson you'd do yourself a favor by driving the 40 miles to meet the folks at the Dinghy Shop in Amityville who are plugged into the Laser scene all over your area.

;) Oddly enough 40 miles out to Amityville (long island) and then the 40 miles back isn't really "local"; especially as it relates to the gas and time I'm going to spend. Local to me is maybe 20 miles one way....all highway....maybe. I doubt that they are going to give me such a great deal, price wise, that I'm going to save that much over purchasing it online with say one of our laserforum members like for example.... TheBoathouse ;). The likeliness of me hiking back out for "support" is even less likely.


I guess the definition of "local" is a semantic. But it's all good. :p


Support what shop you feel comfortable dealing with and if it's local all the better.


-K
 
Thanks everybody for the suggestions. I'll check the local dealers.

Unfortuntely, Laser racing isn't really my primary sailing focus; I mostly do it to keep busy during the "software season", so there's not a lot of real "relationship" to build. FWIW, I almost exclusively use local suppliers for my iceboating gear (which is substantially more $ per year).

I know the owner of "The (Madison) Boathouse" (nee "The Sailboat House") quite well, as well as a couple of the employees. They're a good place but, as one might assume from the name change, the focus is no longer on sailboats. There's another Laser dealer to the south I also know. I am planning to approach them and see if I can get a good price if I order a sail through them. I'm hoping I can reduce their costs by giving lots of flexibility in the order so they can minimize delivery and carrying costs.

Since Laser stuff is so much a commodity, it's easy to build a relationship with a geographically distant supplier. For example, I used to use APS for almost all my Laser stuff. They had/have excellent phone customer service. I spent quite some time on the phone getting some excellent advice about the purchase of a new wet-suit last spring (unfortunately, with an employee who's no longer with them...). I have to admit "West Coast Sailing" seems like a pretty nice place; if I can't work something out with the locals I'll give them a call.

I'll probably also keep an eye on E-Bay. I have to admit that someone planning a sale offered me a new sail at a great price, I just don't have the cash right now (too much going into the iceboat program...).

Again, thanks everybody! It's great to see TLF still has great activity and denizens.

Cheers,

Geoff S.
DN US-5156/Laser 145234/Renegade 510
http://geoff-s.net/
 
In my view the reason you buy your sail from the local guy even if they are 100 miles away is that if you are at a regatta and you bust a top section or boom or whatever you don't miss the entire weekend of racing you jump in the car and pick one up and you can be back on the water the next day...If you buy from the guy thats 500 miles away and your "local" guy is gone then you my have to watch the fun from shore (not fun)

Moral of the story support the local (closest to you) dealer and he will be there to hep you out.
 
odinsvitskjaldr said:
Have you checked out Ebay? Usually, they have some sails listed; sometimes new sometimes used.

I have kept an eye out for Laser parts on eBay, did see a new sail only one time that I can think of, bought it, and when all was said and done I saved about 15%, or about $65. I think it was a fair deal, but I would have no problem going to my local dealer next time.

By the way, it's not uncommon to see used sails of practice/recreational quality going for $200 to $250 on eBay.

If you're super lucky you might get a good deal on the coveted laser-etched crystal with sailboat design, which apparently sell by the millions on eBay. ;)
 
Just got ordered from pier 17 in jacksonville,fl . great price and pier 17 ordered from r.i. will deliver to jacksonville,fl possbile jan 2006 . I was laser long time , i growed up for laser started 1977 to 1992 stopped i was busy . i promise go laser regatta next year .
 
There is a almost new North in the classified section of this board for 250.00
see - "laser sail-full rig conneticut" 49208 Post date Dec 19
 

Back
Top