BR20 sail dimensions

[Mike R]

I think the time has come to replace sails on my 2009 Gunter rigged BR20.
Jib replaced last year so only the main and mizzen to do.
I have a couple of sailmakers in mind but they are asking for dimensions.
Does anyone have these to hand?
Any ideas on price?

[Graham W]

I can't help on dimensions but these are the prices quoted earlier this year by the yard for sails made by Hyde, who I think are the official supplier for all Swallow sails:

BR20 Gunter Mainsail - Tan £535
BR20 Jib - Tan £215
BR20 Mizzen - Tan £160

Hyde have the BR20 patterns - their sails are actually made in the Philippines.  If your boat is 2009, your sails were likely made by Dolphin, who were replaced as the yard's sailmaker about ten years ago.  Hyde sails are a lot more robust but not necessarily a better shape.

[Mike R]

Thanks for the info - that seems very cheap.  I paid £440 last year for a job in cream with UV strip.

Yes, original sails were Dolphin.

Is it cheaper to have sails made in tan?

[Graham W]

I doubt that tan is cheaper, just (in my mind) it's more in keeping with the Q-ships image.

[Charles Scott]

What is a Q-ship ?  I thought they were armed merchantmen employed to sink German submarines in WWI. Did they have tan sails ?!
   Keeping vaguely to the subject though, my BR20 sails have never had any insignia, and I think it is time I did something about it. Are they simply stuck on, and do I get them from the yard or a sailmaker ?  My sails are by Hyde.  Is there a regulation size and position for them?

[Graham W]

Photo 1 - Q-ship HMS Ready lying in wait for submarines

Photo 2 - Turaco lying in wait for jetskis

[Charles Scott]

Thanks for that clarification Graham ; I am intrigued to know what sort of armament you have for the sinking of jetskis , and would like to use this opportunity to encourage you in your quest.

[Nicky R]

We didn't have a logo or sail numbers on our BRE sails when we bought her secondhand, so we bought some. From what I remember, we got them from Swallow, so I'd try asking them where you can get the numbers. The numbers annd logo are adhesive and are pretty easy to stick on. The only tricky part is getting them level and evenly spaced.

[Sea Simon]

Swallow Logos.

In 2023 I got the following  reply from Hyde UK to my enquiry...

"Hi Simon.
I have worked out a price for the Bay Cruiser 26 logo for your mainsail.  The Price is £50+Vat for the logos and to ship them down to you will be £12+Vat.
If you would like to go ahead, please let me know with your full address and contact details and I will get an order on the system.
Kindest regards
Richard Lovering
Hyde Sails
Sail Designer
+44 (0)7802 315 903
richardlovering@hydesails.co.uk"

I didn't order logos, as in the end I got new sails for BC 26 elsewhere. tbh, I'm not a fan of Hyde - in my past (dinghy one-design) experience, highish prices for inconsistent and mediocre far-east made sails. But GWs quotes above are imho "very competitive").
£75 for two sticky fabric logos seems a lot to me, but I do realise they are "custom"...

Then decided my Swallow burgee (Won racing at Mylor raid 2023) was sufficient.

[Charles Scott]

Thanks for the replies about the logos.  I shall contact the yard and see if they can better Mr. Hyde's prices. (is there a Dr.Jeckells ? )

[Rock Doctor]

Hello from Oz, sailing season is just underway. Regarding sails for my BR20 I have had a new one made for Gryphon using a local sailmaker. I obtained a sail plan with measurements from Swallow some time ago but my sailmaker measured her up and has built me a new sail using the Swallow plans for details such as reefing and mast tie on points. BUT one thing I did do was have him add a little roach to the sail and add battens, this adds about ten percent to sail area - and probably adds some more weather helm. After one original sail and two new ones I became pretty disappointed in the extent of leech curl in the un battened sails after relatively short time (two seasons). Hence my decision. Now the first race is this coming Sunday - 12-15 knots forecast so we will see. Have two other BR20s to race against, one GRP like mine plus a epoxy ply job made in Tasmania. So will have some yardstick.

Thought people might be interested - has anyone else gone this way?

Regards to all over there,
Chris Robinson
BR20 Gryphon

[Rock Doctor]

Reading below regarding sail logos, this was received from Swallow Yachts. My sailmaker cut these from black stickyback sailcloth. Needed to blow up a bit to get size right but printing template to A3 paper worked well.

Chris Robinson
BR20 Gryphon