Another new sailor thread

Hello. This is my first post here and I am also new to this hobby. I tend to get very long-winded so I'll cut to the chase. I need a sail for a 1986 H14.

And now, the rest of the story.

I learned to handle an AMF Sunfish when I was about 13 years old. It is probably the single most memorable fun experience of my entire childhood. I came home from that experience obsessing over sailboats and discovered catamarans and decided that when I got my first "real job" when I was 16 that I would get either the H14 or H16. I would save my money to make it happen. Then I turned 17. Then I joined the Air Force. Then I got married. Then we had 4 kids. My dream went unfulfilled for 33 years.

Now I am retired from the USAF and have started a second career as a school teacher, leaving me LOTS of free time in the summer. I found an H14 with great hulls, an exceptional trailer, a tramp that will need to be replaced very soon, and a sail that is severely dry-rotted and damaged from being left in the sun for years. It is certainly irrepairable and utterly unusable in its current state. I gave $500 for the boat, towed it the two blocks to my house, and opened up the bag of goodies to find brand new rigging, two like-new PFDs, the original assembly manual, and a Hobie accessory catalog from 1999.

Anyway, on to the sail replacement. I have discovered that a brand new replacement will cost me anywhere from $700-1200 depending on what I want, who makes it, and where I get it from. I did a search on Searchtempest and found a number of H14s and H14 sails in the $120-$300 range. One of the sails for $120 looked like a 1960s vintage with a 4 digit number on it. The other $120 sail had an area that had been repaired with sail tape but was listed in "good condition." There were a few places that listed "lots of hobie cat parts" including sails, but no prices were listed. Then there were the complete boats listed in "sailable condition" for $250-$300 that I figured I could talk them out of the sail for Maybe $200 if it was up to my standards.

My questions are basically, 1, what would be a reasonable price to pay for a used sail in essentially great condition? And 2, should I go for the cheap, $120 sail with the repair work done? What would you do?

It's worth the money to buy a good sail. It will give you much better performance, and last for years, if you take care of it. Sails wear out. The draft shifts, causing the power to go way down. Buying someones "good, but repaired" sail means you'll be buying another one in a few years, while tolerating lowered performance.
The sail is the engine for the boat. If you were replacing the engine in your car, would you buy a very used engine that won't perform up to par?

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

You cannot go wrong with a genuine Hobie replacement sail. $1000? OK, take care of the sail and it'll last you 8 to 10 years of hard use so that's only $120 to $100 per year. Pretty cheap fun if you ask me....