Twenty minutes with the sail spread out, before it goes anywhere near the boat. This is not a quality inspection — the sail was checked against its specification before it shipped, and that is our job rather than yours. What you are confirming is that the right sail arrived, undamaged, with everything that should be in the box.
Before you open it
Photograph the outer packaging, particularly if it is damaged. A crushed corner or a wet box is evidence, and it stops being evidence once it is in a skip.
If the package is badly torn, soaked or plainly missing contents, you may refuse delivery. If it can be accepted safely, ask the carrier to record that it was received damaged. Keep the packaging, shipping label and waybill in either case.
Check the packing list against what is in the box before anything is unfolded.
Where to open it
Clean, dry, and big enough to see the sail. A pontoon, a wet lawn or a dusty floor will do damage in the first ten minutes of the sail’s life.
Take your Sail Passport with you, on paper or on a screen.
What to check
That it is your sail
The sail label, against your order and your boat. This sounds unnecessary and it is the first thing to confirm.
That nothing happened in transit
Look over the surface for a scuff, an oil mark, a tear or anything wet. This is what the twenty minutes is really for — transit damage is the one thing nobody could have caught in the loft.
That everything is in the box
Battens, accessories, spare parts, patches: against the packing list.
A look at the obvious things
Not a measurement exercise. With the sail spread out, glance at the corners, the markings and the protection, and see whether anything is plainly not what your Passport says:
The corners — the right fittings, the right way round.
The markings — sail number, insignia, stripes and logo on both sides, right way round, right colours.
The protection — the UV cover on the side that matches which way your furler rolls.
The battens — in the right pockets, and one comes out and goes back without tools.
You are looking for an obvious mismatch, not verifying the sail. A few centimetres out on a hand measurement of a large sail means nothing. Half a metre means something. Everything finer than that was checked against the specification before the sail shipped.
About the chafe patches
If loose chafe patches or other protection are listed on the packing list, check they are present. Protection already specified for a known contact point will be fitted as shown in the Sail Passport. Any position that can only be established on the boat is checked at the first hoist.
What to do if something is wrong
Stop and photograph it. Overall shot showing where on the sail, then close up, with something for scale. Then take one of the sail label so the sail is identified.
Do not fix it yourself, and do not hoist the sail to see whether it matters. A discrepancy on an unused sail is straightforward. The same discrepancy on a sail that has been sailed with is a much longer conversation.
Email crew@surgesails.com with the photographs and your order number. Report transit damage within 48 hours of delivery, including photographs of the packaging, label and waybill. Keep all packaging until we reply.
What is not a problem
Packing creases. A sail packed folded may show creases. They settle with use, and on a laminate they may take a little longer. Some sails are shipped rolled according to their cloth and packing requirements.
The sail looking different from the preview. The preview is a flat drawing. A real sail has three-dimensional shape built into it and looks fuller.
Stiffness. New cloth, particularly Dacron and laminate, is stiff and noisy. It softens.
A smell. New sailcloth and its finishes have a smell that goes.
Then put it away properly
If the sail is not going straight onto the boat, fold or roll it as it arrived and put it back in its bag, dry, out of the sun. See Cleaning, Drying and Storage.
Next
Installation — the first hoist.