non sailor question, well almost

[powerskipper]

Sail fabric seems to be tough stuff, well I have seen bags made of it, and had a good feel of them,

now the question,


Do they blow out , ripe , disintegrate ever, and if so why.?

 

[bob_tyler]

I don't think that I would be too embarassed if you were feeling my sailing bags and they fell apart /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[DJE]

They do all 3, they do it when you least expect it, they do it because life's like that.

 

[FergusM]

If it's terylene (dacron) sail cloth, its main enemy is UV light. That's why roller genoas often have a sacrificial blue strip on the foot and leach to protect the terylene when they are left furled. Sails used in the tropics have a short life because of the sunlight. The material degrades and loses its strength.

But for practical purposes in Northern European latitudes, it is a pretty tough material, with a long useful life. That's especially the case for applications such as bags, where it does not suffer continuous exposure. It does not rot through being damp, but it can mildew if packed away wet.

 

[graham]

Modern cloth is pretty tough.Because it is hard the stitching stays proud of the material and can can chaffe itself away on anything it touches such as mast rigging guard wires etc.generally sails lose their shape and become inefficient before they start falling apart these days.

As mentioned UV from sunlight is biggest enemy left out long enough uncovered they will disintergrate.

Are you thinking of getting some??? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[powerskipper]

sometime , would like to, but time and money at mo.

It is one of those thing I wonder at, not being a raggie as such, I know the tailoring of the sail is important, just wondered how long a sail would last and kind of prices to replace them.
love learning stuff thats all.

Oh and very nosey. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[graham]

Huge variety of prices depending on what type of sailing you do. For a 30 foot yacht a main sail and furling genoa suitable for weekend/holiday cruising and not too competitive racing would be around a grand each.

life span varies hugely from 5 to 20 years depending on use and how much stretch you are willing to put up with.I think that most cruising people expect 10 to 15 seasons of not too strenuous use..with a few repairs along the way.

 

[tj101c70]

Hi

I have a late 99 37 ft sweden, whilst little used, the geona has done all the work,and the previous owner left it rolled whenever the boat was in the water, but now need some service/repair work , mainly stitching where contack has been made with spreaders,etc
Have ordered a new one, mainly for club racing, cost just over £2k, and used the old one for cruising etc, but as said before 10 years is the norm, with regular use

I have just returned to sail from power, and enjoying my boating again!!

Regards TJ

 

[ccscott49]

It makes great bags!! and jackets. The material will normally long outlast the stiching, which they sometimes need restiching, you need for bags and jackets, old sails which have had the "fillers" beaten out of them to make them softer. The fillers are there to make the sails stiffer and windproof, makes them keep there windfoil shape better, which is "cut" in. A sail is meant to take the shape of a wing, which produces in an aeroplane lift, in a yacht thrust. Look at a wind surfer sail and the wing of the old wartime spitfire, you will see the similarity. Anyway, the modern materials last a long time, dependant on use of course and how well you look after them, same as any material. There is a new material for classic sails, called, "clipper canvas" which is Dacron, but soft to touch, more like old fashioned egytian cotton, which would make a great bag or jacket!! But old sails are better, coz they look coooool! I think anyway!

 

[janeK]

I have had a Banks Sail skipper nav' bag for over five years and it still looks and is as stiff as when bought, if that's any help for making a purchase with SIBS coming up?

 

[tcm]

I bort a jacket made of old sails (from steinlager, apparently) made by Qubie Sails in Cowes and it it v strong. The sleeves are normal plasticy sail material, body made of lighter spinnaker material which is lighter though it makes a crackly noise every time you move....

 

[Eightball]

hi if you where closer to me icould help you strait away as i have lots of old sales lieying round surely there is some one on forum that would give you some try asking ? they all seem to stick together over there and seem to help out when they can . if you aint suckc esfull buy a ticket to australia and ill give you all you want . regards dave

 

[ccscott49]

Give her all she wants of what?

 

[bob_tyler]

Back into a habit eh! Gone all coy have you? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Eightball]

hi got your mined in the gutter have you. always seem to get one dum comment from one of you over there . or mybe you cant read propper??? try again you might get it right.