Elvstrom laminate mainsail questions

[garvellachs]

Is anyone familiar with an Elvstrom aramid laminate mainsail from about 2008 - as fitted to a First 34.7? I am considering buying one secondhand but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. The sail is laminated with gold-coloured fibres (no black). 3 questions:

The battens seem to be built in - apart from the full length top one, the others are very flexible and built into the construction of the sail, although there seems to be a narrow pocket as well. Is that how it is made?

Off the boat, is there anything I might look for that would indicate that the sail is (or isn't) reaching the end of its useful life?

How does one fold it up for transport? I can flake it keeping the leech all at one end - so that the built in battens are all above each other - and then fold it into thirds perhaps? Google suggests rolling it, but that's too big to go into the car.

Grateful for any insights...

 

[Ingwe]

I don't have any experience specific to Elvstrom string sails but they are all made in roughly the same way.

I would be fairly surprised if there wasn't a way to remove the battens as they do get broken but I have seen one or two sails where they have been sewn in and then need to go back to a loft to be changed - they won't be integral to the sail just sewn on the outside.

If it just a pure string sail (ie see through apart from the string) be very very careful with a sail of that age, what you are primarily looking for are holes in the membrane and any breaks in the "string", you may get lucky with a mainsail of that age as long as it hasn't been flogged too much, the likely wear points are along the leach, where the spreaders touch the sail and at the tips of the batten pockets where the battens eventually pierce through the mylar (but is probably patch-able).

It's definitely better to keep string sails rolled as much as possible - we tend to put them on the roof rack attached to a spinnaker pole to give it a bit of rigidity, but as a temporary thing you would get away with flaking you just don't want to put any pressure on the sail, which especially with that age sail could cause the membrane or the fibers to snap as they aren't really designed to go around a 180 degree corner.

 

[garvellachs]

Lots of helpful advice there Ingwe. I've written to Elvstrom now in Denmark - they may have records they say that go back to when it was made.

 

[Seajet]

Surely it's more a matter of how it's been used rather than when it was made ?

I bought a mylar main secondhand a while ago, it seemed very lightly used with little apparent wear, but when I tried it definitely produced less drive than the standard terylene job !

- I am used to trimming sails and have done a lot of dinghy racing with various modern sails.

It was clearly blown, just reached its allotted hours and that was it, Goodnight Vienna...

I managed to sell it to someone desperate for any mainsail, hopefully it will last them a long time even if they won't get many records.

 

[matt1]

Is anyone familiar with an Elvstrom aramid laminate mainsail from about 2008 - as fitted to a First 34.7? I am considering buying one secondhand but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. The sail is laminated with gold-coloured fibres (no black). 3 questions:

The battens seem to be built in - apart from the full length top one, the others are very flexible and built into the construction of the sail, although there seems to be a narrow pocket as well. Is that how it is made?

Off the boat, is there anything I might look for that would indicate that the sail is (or isn't) reaching the end of its useful life?

How does one fold it up for transport? I can flake it keeping the leech all at one end - so that the built in battens are all above each other - and then fold it into thirds perhaps? Google suggests rolling it, but that's too big to go into the car.

Grateful for any insights...

I have a lovely elvestrom radial cut laminate mainsail. It was made by elvestrom in 2006 but finished by sobstad who put Selden (mds?) cars on it. The battens go into a slot in the cars, with the leach being fastened with a "rocket pocket".... A plastic rocket shaped attachment that tightens against a webbing eye by adjusting a screw. It's very secure. It may be that sobstad used a different finishing method to elvestrom or it may just associated with the the selden style set up. I don't remember it having gold stitching either. (The laminate has a grey taffeta outer).

I've got to say it has lasted really well (although I look after it fastidiously) and whether it's the sails, the feathering prop or my sailing skills (?!) I don't know, but the boat is very fast. (It's a Hunter Channel 31 btw, so similar size to yours)

 

[savageseadog]

The gold fibres are more likely than not Kevlar. The key parts to look at the leech, the reef points and the tack / clew. The Mylar should feel soft. The moment it becomes hard it's only a matter of time before it starts to rip.. If it goes hard / brittle (maybe due to flogging / maybe due to Uv (a bad cover can expose the clew) it's only a matter of time before its in bits... Will a true laminate sail with no taffita (like a thin layer of Dacron one side or both or an internal one like a mesh) they are really sensitive to flogging, the older they get the more careful you have to be. Reefing in a force 6 can destroy the leech if the sail is old.

 

[garvellachs]

Thanks again guys, advice appreciated.