Anyone had Wave Tape Applied to Their Sails?

[savageseadog]

Wave tape. Generally applied to leeches and foot of sails anyone done it?
Was it applied both sides?
Stitched?
Successful?

 

[Ardenfour]

Why?

 

[Daydream believer]

Why?

To reduce flutter & prevent creasing on the leech of the sail
It says so on the tin:encouragement:

 

[Norman_E]

A properly adjusted leach line should prevent flutter, and if it does not I doubt that adding an adhesive tape will do so.

 

[savageseadog]

It breaks up the forces acting to flutter the leech. It's often used on laminate sails where the leech has started to delaminate due to heavy use or flutter.

 

[Ardenfour]

Ah ��

 

[KellysEye]

Having sailed 30+ different boats from 35 feet to 50 feet, including ours, and 20 years of chartering two or three times a year I have never seen a leech flutter, if it does it hasn't been tightened properly.

 

[Clive]

Having sailed 30+ different boats from 35 feet to 50 feet, including ours, and 20 years of chartering two or three times a year I have never seen a leech flutter, if it does it hasn't been tightened properly.

Yes. I have had the wave tape added to all of my Kevlar sails.
Using normal tape the froward acts like a hard edge and can "crack" the Kevlar strands. Kevlar is great under tension but can fail when bent around sharp corners and constantly flexed . The wave breaks this edge effect up and spreads the loads over more threads in the cloth.

Works a treat

 

[Daydream believer]

If there is any stretch in the sail cloth then when hard on the wind with a blade sail one might set the leech line to stop flutter. however, If the sheet is then eased a little for any reason the leech may well start to flutter again requiring a re set of the leech line. This can be annoying if one is, say , single handed or is constantly adjusting the sheet macro amounts.
Will the use of this tape help with that ?

I have a sail ( soon to be returned to the sailmaker) that flutters slightly in the upper third. To stop this I have to tension the leech line a lot which causes excessive curve in the lower third & hooking over the lower batten end.
If i could avoid the slight flutter in the top it would be OK

 

[Venus1]

If there is any stretch in the sail cloth then when hard on the wind with a blade sail one might set the leech line to stop flutter. however, If the sheet is then eased a little for any reason the leech may well start to flutter again requiring a re set of the leech line. This can be annoying if one is, say , single handed or is constantly adjusting the sheet macro amounts.
Will the use of this tape help with that ?

I have a sail ( soon to be returned to the sailmaker) that flutters slightly in the upper third. To stop this I have to tension the leech line a lot which causes excessive curve in the lower third & hooking over the lower batten end.
If i could avoid the slight flutter in the top it would be OK

I have this problem too on my laminated furling genoa with uv strip. And as ol’will taught me here a sail is more likely to flutter when the leach is heavier than the bulk of the sail. The sailmaker put some hollow in the leach, giving only minor improvement. So I share Daydream’s frustration and the OP’s question.

 

[thinwater]

I have this problem too on my laminated furling genoa with uv strip. And as ol’will taught me here a sail is more likely to flutter when the leach is heavier than the bulk of the sail. The sailmaker put some hollow in the leach, giving only minor improvement. So I share Daydream’s frustration and the OP’s question.

Watch out for cracks in the Mylar a the leading edge of the UV strip; often it creates a hinge, by virtue of being stiffer as well as heavier.