[Rhodes22-list] Rhodes Sails

[BARRY RUEHLEN]

I had a very bizarre experience with Mike Orla as well. Our Rhodes floated off the trailer in hurricane Ian and snapped the centerboard in it's short journey across our lot. Mike Orla said he had one and we agreed on a price, shipped. The saga went on for a couple months with multiple layers of weirdness. Such as "Yes I have sent it. Must be lost. Will send you a better one I have. So when the other one gets there you will have 2.". This is just a piece of the story. We did finally get a centerboard that is in reasonable shape. It had been repaired, and I made more repairs.
Be very cautious of Mike Orla.

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________________________________
From: Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org> on behalf of Matt Wilson <mwhornblower at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2025 10:22:47 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Rhodes Sails

Hello everyone,

I hope your off season is going well.  It won't be long now!  ;)

This list is always incredibly helpful and collaborative. I am grateful for
the level of experience and encouragement this resource regularly supplies.

My current question is unfortunately of a different nature.

Many of you probably remember a guy by the name of Mike Orla parting out
his father in law's Rhodes on this list.  I reached out to his offer and we
agreed on a price for his 2018 set of North Sails.  Once he shipped them
however, it became clear that he sent me a fairly used up set of Lees Sails
that almost immediately started coming apart at the seams .  The
ensuing saga (I'll spare you the gory details) has led me to believe that
perhaps he was swindling me from the very beginning.  Which leads me to my
question.  As we consider our options to rectify this situation, it would
be helpful to know if one of you might have purchased and received those
North Sails from him.  I of course would hold him fully responsible for
this if this was truly the case.  I suppose it's a risk I took dealing with
a private party.  I have found every other sailor to be 100% helpful and
honest.

If you did buy and receive the North Sails and are willing to let me know,
that would be very helpful in knowing how best to rectify this situation.
Please feel free to contact me privately at mwhornblower at gmail.com or
612-770-4531

On a related note, if any of you have a genoa in good shape that they would
be willing to part with, I would be interested.  I don't have the budget at
the moment (two kids in college) to purchase new.

Thanks for bearing with this less than light hearted email.

Sincerely,
Matt Wilson
Hornblower II
White Bear Lake, MN