How long will sails last?

N

nickfabbri

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 Sep 2006
Messages
290
Visit site
Had a boat delivered at the beginning of this season. It came with a standard set of North sails from a Turkish loft. I do a little racing and a lot of cruising. My question is; how good will these factory issue sails be?Will they deteriorate faster than more expensive sails? Will changing the sails for a set of semi racing Hydes make much difference?
 
How long is a bit of string?

Are you sails actually NORTH or are they a local copy? I was not aware NORTH had a loft in Turkey but I may be mistaken. If they are genuine NORTH sails then you have a set that is a good as it gets but I think these might be a locally made copy.

How long a sail will last depends on the quality of the sail to start with, how much you use it, in what sort of conditions and how well you look after it.

Some sails can last 20 years or more others will not make it to the end of the season. It all about sail shape and maintaining it.

What sort of condition are your current sails in?
What are they made of?
How are they cut? (ie Cross or radial or some other way?)
Who actually made them?
 
We bought a new suit of sails last year and after much discussion etc. went crusing laminate. Steep learning curve but basically told that with Dacron expect 10 years, cruising lamintae 5 years, mylar/kevlar 2-3 and carbon, never mind.

Our old main and genoa are both about 15 years old, dacron and are both out of shape and with degraded stiching. A few rips occuring! I know they were very little used for about 10 years of their life so I think the above timescales would fit with "average use" what ever that is.

With regards to where thye are made. Sales are made all over now. Most stuff is now lofted in the country you buy them, plans sent to China, sails made and a container comes across every couple of weeks full of sails. Global market place for you.

Apparently the North and Doyle factories in China are right next to each other.
 
[ QUOTE ]
....Sales are made all over now. Most stuff is now lofted in the country you buy them, plans sent to China, sails made and a container comes across every couple of weeks full of sails. Global market place for you.

Apparently the North and Doyle factories in China are right next to each other.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whilst this is true NORTH are slightly different as they actually make the material themselves (which they then sell to other lofts). As a rule Norths are usually better quality than most other sails but also more expensive. On my own boat I use Banks and Sanders cause I could not afford norths.

A look at the NORTH website says that NORTH do have A LOFT (Sales office/repair) in Turkey so maybe they are Norths.

The thing to look at is their shape and condition. If the shape is OK they should be OK. How old are they anyway? /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
It is not clear from your post whether this is a brand new boat or just new to you. If it is new you should be able to get from the builder details of material and construction plus what use they were intended for. If the boat is a budget AWB then chances are the sails are also budget and built to the lowest spec/price.

Once you know what you have you can then assess what you would need for the improvements you seek. Most lofts, particulalry the ones in the uK who make their own sails will advise on the characteristics of different styles of sails.

www.kempsails.com for example give good descriptions of their different ranges

As an indication of the difference between cheap OE sails and replacements, our Bavaria was transformed by a new suit of sails, made in Greece as it happens
 
it was a new Hanse which was delivered in Mrach. I talked to Hanse after posting this and they said that although the sails are North, the company is run by accountants and therefore the sails are not as good as they could be
 
Sounds odd, I suggest you give North a call. Ask them what they supply as standard to Hanse and what they'd reccomend for your use.

Unfortunately of course you probably should have done this before the boat was delivered....
 
It all depends what you mean by 'last'. Cheapo original equipment sails are used by pretty well all and fancy names like North and Hood mean nothing, anybody can use cheap cloth and fittings even them in order to get the boatbuilder orders. Cheap cloth may well 'last' 10 years or more but that is the cloth, the sail SHAPE will have gone long before even if it was there to start with! High Tech racing laminates too may guarantee the shape and not stretch but many are not renowned to last more than a few years before disintegrating, flat out racers accept that downside. Good cloth, good cuts and good fittings will cost more but both shape and longevity will be infinitely superior.
 
At that end of the market, all builders are cost conscious. However, Hanse do try and sell on superior performance for their latest range, so guess the sails will not be totally bad.

Best thing to do is get a good sailmaker out on the boat and ask for advice.
 
Basic - even North - Dacron 10yrs absolute max if you look after them & are lucky; should be fine for 5-6 (7?) and then its pot-luck if you get more.
 
Keep them in the bags & they will last for years. Put 'em up the mast in all that sunlight, wet & wind & you could get as little as 12-18months - possibly less if in constant use. Round the world'ers count themselves fortunate if they get round with only a couple of sets of sails.
 
I also have Hanse which was delivered with North Sails made in the Turkish loft. They're made in batches in the winter out of one of the cheaper Dacrons and therefore Hanse get them at a very good price. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.

Hanse's approach appears to be build a solid boat but cut costs on anything that is easily changed - sails, running rigging, blocks etc.

I also do a bit of cruising and a bit of racing. In the first season (2007) I lived with the OEM sails. This season our performance dropped off and in the late spring/early summer I bought a Hyde Cruising Laminate self tacker made in Dimension Polyant - it has transfomed the performance of the boat.

Talking to other Hanse owners, the conclusion is that upgrading the self tacker gives a much larger improvement in performance than the main. It seems the North mains are a better shape than the self tackers. I plan to upgrade my main at the end of next season (i.e after three seasons). PM me if you want to discuss over phone.

Ed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top