Fed up with UV strip on my Genny

[Daydream believer]

There's a world of difference between the life of a sail on a racing boat with a young fit crew and on a cruiser sailed by Grandma and Granddad who reduce sail when the boat heels a bit. Grandma and Granddad probably don't mind the sail being a bit below par to windward, as that's what the engine's for, rather than thrashing upwind with the sheets bar tight

Thinking about it I can begin to understand that. I do not race, but I like to get there first.
To me sailing is about 3 things--sailing the boat as efficiently as possible -arriving at a port other than my own & navigation without plotters etc & using more trad skills where I can.
Probably in that order.
So long as I am doing one of those I am happy.
But having spoken to some friends it seems that 19 years for a sail is not so unusual. But then 1 season is not unknown either. Obviously it depends on some factors. Cost. Type of use, ie cruising, racing Type of boat, ie true yacht or motor sailor. Amount of use the sail gets. The list goes on.

It might make an interesting thread to see how long each type of sailor keeps their sails

 

[Stemar]

sailing the boat as efficiently as possible

We may be Grandma and Granddad age, but so do I. However, I got into trouble when the boat heeled more than about 10 degrees. Even more trouble now we've got a cat

 

[billskip]

Thinking about it I can begin to understand that. I do not race, but I like to get there first.
To me sailing is about 3 things--sailing the boat as efficiently as possible -arriving at a port other than my own & navigation without plotters etc & using more trad skills where I can.
Probably in that order.
So long as I am doing one of those I am happy.
But having spoken to some friends it seems that 19 years for a sail is not so unusual. But then 1 season is not unknown either. Obviously it depends on some factors. Cost. Type of use, ie cruising, racing Type of boat, ie true yacht or motor sailor. Amount of use the sail gets. The list goes on.

It might make an interesting thread to see how long each type of sailor keeps their sails

To me sailing is about three things...
Being on the water
Being on the water
Being on the water

 

[Refueler]

Why are we arguing such a matter ?? If its based on my boats sails ............ Sailmaker had my sails for check over and replacing sail number (I had not put Latvian SN on them) .... he declared sails in GOOD CONDITION .... not for their age - but actually good condition.

 

[Refueler]

Your sail is as old as my boat! It doesn't look terrible in the photos, I have to say. We are just replacing a 6 year old jib, but it's had relatively little use. On the XOD, we might use 3 sets a year, maybe not 3 kites. There's always a new jib and a good used main in reserve for Cowes week. Racing is a different mindset.

I hate the sheeting angle when genny full ..... its too steep an angle. I think about rigging a small block and line via the existing traveller ... but never gets done.
Bristows shows the boat with a gigantic sweeper of a genny .... UGH !!

The boat actually sails better with REDUCED genny .... as the CoE needs to go fwd.

 

[Daydream believer]

Why are we arguing such a matter ?? If its based on my boats sails ............ Sailmaker had my sails for check over and replacing sail number (I had not put Latvian SN on them) .... he declared sails in GOOD CONDITION .... not for their age - but actually good condition.

No body is arguing about your sails now. You are happy with them & what anyone else thinks is totally irrelevant.

 

[Humblebee]

I have replaced it 2x in the time I have had the boat .... ok that's well over 25yrs.

But I have noted that the UV strip has got thinner and more fragile since the old days .....

My UV strip took a 'hit' last year when furling gear fouled and sail flogged .... its now with many splits ......

I am seriously considering just removing the strip and not replacing. But boy - that's a lot of stitching to remove !!

I also have another genny I can try ... that has no strip at all ... its from my race boat I old in Tallinn .... just have to make sure about luff fits the groove.

Anyone else noticed UV strip changes ???

Hi Refueller, I did as you mentioned and cut off the old UV strip. Not too much of a faff and pleasant enough sitting on deck one fine day.
I've had another couple of years out of the sail with it not looking too bad but maybe a replacement is due next winter.

 

[Refueler]

Hi Refueller, I did as you mentioned and cut off the old UV strip. Not too much of a faff and pleasant enough sitting on deck one fine day.
I've had another couple of years out of the sail with it not looking too bad but maybe a replacement is due next winter.

Thanks for that .....

I reckon if I don't leave the sail on too much .... it should be OK .....

Question is - whether I can be 'bothered' taking down .. putting back up again !!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ours is a horrible struggle in the luff groove. 20 mins of swearing to do it. Hence my adherence to uv strip and cover, it comes down only for maintenance.

 

[Praxinoscope]

Just having the UV strip replaced on my Genoa, took the sail in for washing and valeting and was advised that the strip was on its last legs, but the rest of the sail is fine, sail is now 8 years old, so not too unhappy to have the strip replaced.

 

[Daydream believer]

I hate the sheeting angle when genny full ..... its too steep an angle. I think about rigging a small block and line via the existing traveller ... but never gets done.
Bristows shows the boat with a gigantic sweeper of a genny .... UGH !!

The boat actually sails better with REDUCED genny .... as the CoE needs to go fwd.

I do not sail with a furled sail. It never sets properly. It is better to change down a sail size if possible. However, I have just had a new furler fitted & I do not know how the sail will fit in the groove. I hope that it is as easy as the last one. That just let the sails drop on their own.
Re the sheeting angle- You may find that raising it up you spoil the angle to the winch so it causes overriding turns. That means another pulley in between to alter the angle to the winch. That causes friction on the tack.

 

[Refueler]

Ours is a horrible struggle in the luff groove. 20 mins of swearing to do it. Hence my adherence to uv strip and cover, it comes down only for maintenance.

I hit a power cable some years ago and had to cut about 30cms of the top section ..... that is why it looks a bit short in the photos earlier.

Calmly going along upriver ... chatting away .... suddenly boat reared up and STOPPED !! Looked around ... depth OK ... then UP ......

Back home dropped mast and set to ...

Rejoined ...

Since then - a couple of the joints in the alloy can be a nuisance .... and of course lowering / raising mast puts a bit of stress on those joints ......

 

[Daydream believer]

I hit a power cable some years ago and had to cut about 30cms of the top section ..... that is why it looks a bit short in the photos earlier.

Calmly going along upriver ... chatting away .... suddenly boat reared up and STOPPED !! Looked around ... depth OK ... then UP ......

Back home dropped mast and set to ...

Rejoined ...

Since then - a couple of the joints in the alloy can be a nuisance .... and of course lowering / raising mast puts a bit of stress on those joints ......

Complete furler for sale in the "for sale" section of this forum.

 

[Refueler]

I do not sail with a furled sail. It never sets properly. It is better to change down a sail size if possible.
Re the sheeting angle- You may find that raising it up you spoil the angle to the winch so it causes overriding turns. That means another pulley in between to alter the angle to the winch. That causes friction on the tack.

The traveller is on toe-rail / deck well below the winch line .... you can see here the line falling away from winch to traveller in line with aft window ...

Raising the sheet via a short pendant block would actually improve the sheet to winch angle and the sheet to sail ...

 

[Refueler]

Complete furler for sale in the "for sale" section of this forum.

????? This happened near 15yrs ago ..... and sorted ....

Anyway - can you imagine getting it to Latvia ????

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Putting your sheet block on a short pendant is clearly the answer. Maybe you can lead the tail to a winch and cleat, at least while getting the angle right.

 

[Refueler]

Putting your sheet block on a short pendant is clearly the answer. Maybe you can lead the tail to a winch and cleat, at least while getting the angle right.

No problem to set / adjust pendant .... its an old trick I used when racing to get sheet angles sorted for different sails in addition to moving the traveller.

If I was to really go to town on this ... I would use a couple of small blocks - one with snatch locking. .... or a rope clutch on the deck.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ours is set up from the factory for angle adjustment in 3 dimensions. A long track, plus barber haulers, pulling to the outriggers, and back to the coaming winch, so you can use both sheet and barber to trim. Much needed, cos our track is about 2 ft inboard of where a toe rail would be, which is only any use hard on the wind. With our cruising luck, that’s about 80% of the time.

 

[Refueler]

Here's Bristows on the SR25 I have .....

I'd hate to try steer with genny ..... she carries weather helm as a normal trait ... and needs not only main shortened - but genny as well to push CoE fwd

I'd also like to know where the sheet traveller is !!

 

[srm]

I have replaced it 2x in the time I have had the boat .... ok that's well over 25yrs.

But I have noted that the UV strip has got thinner and more fragile since the old days .....

My UV strip took a 'hit' last year when furling gear fouled and sail flogged .... its now with many splits ......

I am seriously considering just removing the strip and not replacing. But boy - that's a lot of stitching to remove !!

I also have another genny I can try ... that has no strip at all ... its from my race boat I old in Tallinn .... just have to make sure about luff fits the groove.

Anyone else noticed UV strip changes ???

Going back to the OP.

Why are you "fed up" with something that is doing what it is intended to do: protecting the furled sail from sunrise to sunset. The fact that it is now in a bad state indicates that it has indeed been working, in much the same way that an anode that is pitted and lost much of its zinc shows that it has been working.

Removing the UV strip is only an hour or two's work. Just go to a sewing shop and get a seam ripper, a small forked blade with a handle, the bottom fork slides under the stitches and the thread is cut in the fork. Replacing the strip is no more than two days work, probably a lot less, to cut and sew on with a sewing machine. I used light weight tan sailcloth from ebay because the tan fades as the cloth is degraded by UV giving a visual indication of its state. Putting it on in sections the width of the cloth (minus overlaps) took care of the curved edges of the sail.

If you chose to leave the strip off the sail will rapidly deteriorate. Even hank on sails suffer from UV degradation when well used. While looking at a 42 ft sloop for sale in the 80's the heavy working jib felt brittle. The owner said he would get in valeted. I suggested it was beyond that and asked if I could tear it. He said yes and looked at me as if I was mad. His expression changed rapidly when the sail cloth tore along a line of stitching as easily as perforated paper.