painted sails

[wpsalm]

cruising the tropics on a tight budget...you guys that are doing it will know what I,m talking about...drop the hook at 3 in the afternoon put the sail covers on ? well maybe, but then again might be getting underway first thing in the morning...and is,nt it amazing how fast the sails wear out...talked to a sailmaker about this. the best way to get long life out of the sails is to make them extra heavy....fine but extra heavy cost extra money and they tend flop in the the light airs...have this second hand from a guy who met a guy who reckons give the sails a coat of latex house paint....no doubt that,ll raise a grin on some of you...but I,m thinking about it....any comments

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[sailorman]

i assume u must be a racing type then???.

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[sailorgirl]

A cautionary tale...
A few years ago, one of my mates was very proud of his S&S designed Swan 38 and decided to have something appropriate painted on the new and very large, very yellow spinnaker he ordered in preparation for a forthcoming European championship.

They started the race upwind and then on the downwind leg the spinnaker was hoisted - as it snapped open a beautiful grey dolphin was displayed for all to see. What their fellow competitors also couldn't miss was the accompanying smell. The whole artwork had been deemed 'damp' when the sail was packed so was liberally sprinkled with talc - a fragrant one! Crew and boat were thoroughly doused!

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[wpsalm]

racing sailor, what ever gave you that idea ??....my sport is full time tropical cruising on the cheap....well not completly full time...occasionally have to seek gainfull employment but try to avoid it as much as possible...hense my interest in longer lasting sails. or anything else that makes cruising more economical...
Anyway went to visit the guy today to get the story first hand he,s an Aussie and reckons a coat of watered down latex house paint every six months does the job.

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[mhouse]

In the late 80's I had an experiment carried out on a set of new dinghy sails which were sprayed with a polyurathane . I dont think I noticed a difference and the idea was superceeded by laminate cloth.

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