sail makers

Currently there are 3 approved lofts. North in Indonesia, (i think) Pryde in China and Hyde in England. Everyone has their favorites. The Hyde's tend to cost $50 USD more than the other 2.
 
Well... you don't have a choice in the Laser class in the same sense as in other classes with which you may be familiar. Laser sails come from Hyde (GBR, actually Philippines), North (USA, actually Sri Lanka), and I believe some also from Neil Pryde (Hong Kong). They're all intended to be identical, you can't buy them directly from the manufacturers (they don't have the sailmakers' labels either), and the Laser/ILCA dealers don't necessarily market them separately. As Rob just said, there may be small price differences in different locations; discussions regarding quality and performance arise occasionally... and they die down pretty quickly. So it's something you don't really need to worry about.

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Well... you don't have a choice in the Laser class in the same sense as in other classes with which you may be familiar. Laser sails come from Hyde (GBR, actually Philippines), North (USA, actually Sri Lanka), and I believe some also from Neil Pryde (Hong Kong). They're all intended to be identical, you can't buy them directly from the manufacturers, and the Laser/ILCA dealers don't necessarily market them separately. As Rob just said, there may be small price differences in different locations; discussions regarding quality and performance arise occasionally... and they die down pretty quickly. So it's something you don't really need to worry about.

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Thanks guys understood.
 
North sell direct in the US now
Interesting. Notice that you still can't buy them from a loft - that's a separate online shop with the PSA (Australian builder) logo up there with North's, so the stuff legally still comes from a builder as per the Fundamental Class Rule. The shipping is "currently" only to the USA and Canada, though.

By the way, my national LP dealer seems to have quietly turned into an Ovington dealer... and they give no information of the origin of the sails they sell.

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