As I posted earlier, I am shopping for new sails for my CD 36 and several sailmakers have recommended mylar, spectra and various other types of high tech materials instead of woven polyester.
Because of the lower aspect ratio of the CD rig and rather high leech loading in the main, the high modulus/low stretch materials seem to make sense but the off white colors and higher cost of the new materials make them a second choice.
Any CD owners have any experience with the new stuff? How about sailing performance with it?
ED
eward@homna.net
Hi Tech Sail Cloth for Cape Dory?
Moderator: Jim Walsh
-
Neil Dexter
Re: Hi Tech Sail Cloth for Cape Dory?
Hood Sailmakers are now making a complete set of Vectran sails for Evensong, my Cape Dory 30. I believe that for cruising sailors, these sails are far superior to laminated sails and conventional Dacron sails. I haven’t seen them yet but since Hood spins a filament of Dacron around the Vectran thread, the color should be almost White. Maybe when the sun shins through them they will show a little Tan color. The price is very little more than high-quality Dacron sails. Check out their Web-site.
neild@ancor.com
neild@ancor.com
-
Brent Musolf
Re: Hi Tech Sail Cloth for Cape Dory?
Ed,
I have tried a few times now to e-mail you directly, however my mail is always returned and cannot find yours. So I will try to post this on the CD page. There are some really neat new cloths out. There are three companies that I deal with that have introduced new crusing laminates. The companies are Dimension, Bainbridge, and Challenge Sailcloth. What these companies have done is to laminate their kevlar, spectra, mylar, etc. to a white taffeta which increases the durability of the cloth against chaffing, creasing, and U.V. radiation. These are realativly new but have been tested in races such as the Whitbread with very good results. These clothes offer the advantages of the high tech materials such as less stretch, less weight aloft, and much higher strength ratios, with out the draw back commonly associtated with racing materials. In the beggining when the sails are new the performance between a dacron sail and a laminate sails are vertually nill. However, after a little usage the daron will begin to stretch where the laminates will not. As you know, when the sail stretches it will lose it optimal shape, which will affect the performance in the areas such as boat speed and heel angles. I have read, that by using laminates you can reduce the heel angle of the boat by at least 5 degrees may be more depending on how tender your boat is. There is concern about the cost when using laminates. This is not necessarilly so when using the new crusing laminates. They are many times the same price or even less than a comparable Dacron because you can use a lighter weight cloth due to the higher strength ratios of the laminates. The only issue is, you can not build a tradition cross-cut sail with laminates. They will have to be radial in nature as are race sails. This can add some additional cost, but it should not be much. This to can be overcome by using a laminate made by Dimension sailcloth that is built especially for cross-cut sails. If you talk with the sailmakers and they insist that these fabrics are much more expensive, that is usually due to mark up. Get the prices and quanity of material (in yards) that they are quoting you and contact me at my company. I can almost always buy and sell these fabrics for less than their retail. I would be happy to include your order in with one of mine.
All these sailcloth companies have web sights that you can find by searching under sailcloth.
Hope this helps,
If you need any more info contact me at:
Sailcovers@usa.net
Fair Winds,
Brent musolf
Owner
Sailcovers Unlimited
18515 Egret Bay Blvd.
suite 709
Houston, Tx
77058
sailcovers@usa.net
I have tried a few times now to e-mail you directly, however my mail is always returned and cannot find yours. So I will try to post this on the CD page. There are some really neat new cloths out. There are three companies that I deal with that have introduced new crusing laminates. The companies are Dimension, Bainbridge, and Challenge Sailcloth. What these companies have done is to laminate their kevlar, spectra, mylar, etc. to a white taffeta which increases the durability of the cloth against chaffing, creasing, and U.V. radiation. These are realativly new but have been tested in races such as the Whitbread with very good results. These clothes offer the advantages of the high tech materials such as less stretch, less weight aloft, and much higher strength ratios, with out the draw back commonly associtated with racing materials. In the beggining when the sails are new the performance between a dacron sail and a laminate sails are vertually nill. However, after a little usage the daron will begin to stretch where the laminates will not. As you know, when the sail stretches it will lose it optimal shape, which will affect the performance in the areas such as boat speed and heel angles. I have read, that by using laminates you can reduce the heel angle of the boat by at least 5 degrees may be more depending on how tender your boat is. There is concern about the cost when using laminates. This is not necessarilly so when using the new crusing laminates. They are many times the same price or even less than a comparable Dacron because you can use a lighter weight cloth due to the higher strength ratios of the laminates. The only issue is, you can not build a tradition cross-cut sail with laminates. They will have to be radial in nature as are race sails. This can add some additional cost, but it should not be much. This to can be overcome by using a laminate made by Dimension sailcloth that is built especially for cross-cut sails. If you talk with the sailmakers and they insist that these fabrics are much more expensive, that is usually due to mark up. Get the prices and quanity of material (in yards) that they are quoting you and contact me at my company. I can almost always buy and sell these fabrics for less than their retail. I would be happy to include your order in with one of mine.
All these sailcloth companies have web sights that you can find by searching under sailcloth.
Hope this helps,
If you need any more info contact me at:
Sailcovers@usa.net
Fair Winds,
Brent musolf
Owner
Sailcovers Unlimited
18515 Egret Bay Blvd.
suite 709
Houston, Tx
77058
sailcovers@usa.net