I have dealt with at least 4 different sailmakers for the M17. All were mentioned on the list at one time or another. All did decent work, but the best service came from the Ullman loft in San Diego and Elliott-Pattison, who I think is Bob's OEM sailmaker. Best price also came from EP. Of the four, I would order again from EP, Ullman and Kern in that order. Mostly on the basis of price and service. Quality was about the same from all of them. Your experience may differ. As for the loose footed main sail, I think Jerry has commented that it's just as good if not better than slugs or a bolt rope. You can control the sail shape better......if you know how. With either setup, the outhaul is essential. You shouldn't need to change anything, but your outhaul cleat would be holding the entire strain of the clew.....which it mostly does anyway. With that much wind potential, I'd order two reef points. We have a guy on our local lake who has a 37' Tartan, with loose footed main, and it's the best sailing boat on the lake. It has something to do with the skipper, but he set it up to sail well, and that included a loose footed main. Howard M17, #278 Audasea On 5/23/05 5:30 PM, "nbundek" <nbundek@earthlink.net> wrote:
I have the original rope slotted main on my 1981 M15. I know that the new M15's come with a loose footed main. I live in Ventura CA with regular winds 15 to 20 knots. What type of main is a better performer? Does the boom track have to be altered with the loose footed sail? Does the loose footed work with an outhaul?
Has anyone ordered a new M15 main sail? If yes, pass the name of the company along to me.
Thanks
Norm _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats