Advice on mew mainsail wanted

D

davidej

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 Nov 2004
Messages
6,739
Location
West Mersea. north Essex
Visit site
I have bought a couple of new genoas over the years but never a mainsail so some advice wanted.

The boat is a Bene 361 with slab reefing and a stackpack. It is cruised quite widely but not raced. We want something good quality that will last. So advice on weight of cloth etc would be welcome.

I am toying with the idea of fully-battened. No experience of this so far so thoughts would be welcome.
 
Can't advise on cloth type (other than personally I prefer good Dacron cloth as opposed to a laminate, for easier handling), but would recommend ensuring it comes with three reef points. We had to have these fitted to one sail and better to get from new.
 
Having had full batterns retro fitted when my baggy main was recut I would now not be without them.
They don't have to be the flash ones on fancy cars, mine have a hard pocket at the luff with a 'standard' toggle that fits in the luff groove on the mast.
 
Fully battened is nice when sailing, easier downwind, better control. Sail lasts longer.
But consider that the sail will be heavier and more difficult to raise as also the preassure from the battens to the mast will be higher than on a normal sail.
The sail will be larger on the boom as well, likely you have to ge a new stack-pack.
Of course it will be more expensive.
Personally, I prefer fully battened. There are alternatives, as having just 2 top battens full length, the rest mormal.

Cloth - Terylene / Dacron works fine, but there are better qualities. Depending on how you sail, it may be possible to use a slightly thinner cloth, which means you save weight. Laminates do create very good sails, not always more expensive.
Three rows of reefs may be good, I had this on a main I ordered once. Driving cost of course.

If you go for Terylene (or similar), I propose you check to get either triple seams, or double with glued seams. Also more expensive, but the sail lasts much longer.

/J
 
Go for fully battened, I had new sails this year and would not now be without them. As far as cloth is concerned there is so much information on the net that it becomes very confusing. Go to three or four sail makers for advice and prices. Be warned you will get conflicting information. I used One Sails ant Levington on the East Coast. Cannot recommend them enough. Excellent advice and service although they were not the cheapest. You get what you pay for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top