sail quality

whipper_snapper

whipper_snapper

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I am getting new sails for a new rig for my old boat - a Wharram cat.

The sailmaker is offering 3 qualities with a total price difference of around £400 beween bronze and gold.

a) Bronze quality: Bainbridge Dacron.
b) Silver quality: Dimension Polyant C-Breeze Dacron.
c) Gold quality: Dimension Polyant AP.

I have no idea of the implications of the different types; the boat will not be seriously raced, but the whole intent of the new rig is to improve performance especially upwind. The sails will be used most often in quite stiff breezes >20Kn most of the time and >30kn often enough.

Any thoughts on the implications of the different options ?

Thanks
 
Either of the Dimension cloths would be fine. Try to handle some sails made from both and see if you prefer the feel of one, especially in the mainsail that will need flaking. It might be worth using the better cloth for your staysail if that's going to be your heavy weather sail.

There's lots of other things that you need to consider. I don't know how much forestay tension you're going to be able to maintain in a blow. The sailmaker really needs to know this otherwise your headsail could become overly baggy (full) when the wind pipes up and lose all the benefits of using a decent cloth. Sag isn't a problem, but the headsails will have to be cut accordingly. Sonatas go well to windward and they have no forestay tension, but the class sailmakers have learned to work with it.

Don't skimp in your budget on full batten hardware. Make sure you know your chosen system both works and is reliable. Otherwise it's not worth the cost of having it at all.
 
I was sent sailcloth sampes along with the quotes when I was looking for new sails. There's only so much you can tell from a little scrap of cloth, but it did help. I let my dog chew them up and chose the one which survived the best!

More scientific methods of choosing sailcloth are probably available...
 
If you want to check the quality of Dacron get the samples and put a bright light behind each sample, use a magnifying glass and you willl see how much fibre there is and how much glue. The more the fibre the better the quality and the less the sail will stretch. The highest quality fabric is Hood. Bear in mind it's a buyers market so negotiate and get quotes from more than one company plus samples.
 
Mavanier said:
More scientific methods of choosing sailcloth are probably available...
Click to expand...

Steve Goacher showed me a good demonstration. He got an offcut about the size of a sheet of A5 and cut a 15cm slot in it. Then I tried to rip the sample. With cheap bog standard Dacron I could do it with my hands. With carbon reinforced fabric even after nailing it to a plank of wood and standing in the hole and bouncing up and down I could not tear the cloth.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
Steve Goacher showed me a good demonstration. He got an offcut about the size of a sheet of A5 and cut a 15cm slot in it. Then I tried to rip the sample. With cheap bog standard Dacron I could do it with my hands. With carbon reinforced fabric even after nailing it to a plank of wood and standing in the hole and bouncing up and down I could not tear the cloth.
Click to expand...

But is tear resistance the most important thing in a sail, or are dimensional stability and fatigue and UV resistance more important ?

Boo2
 
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Boo2 said:
But is tear resistance the most important thing in a sail, or are deimensional stability and fatigue and UV resistance more important ?
Click to expand...

It is for tri-meringues. Sails, like rigging, are more highly loaded in trimarans, and blowing them to bits happens every now and then. I'm not suggesting it's a good test for the OP, just another unscientific demonstration.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
It is for tri-meringues. Sails, like rigging, are more highly loaded in trimarans, and blowing them to bits happens every now and then. I'm not suggesting it's a good test for the OP, just another unscientific demonstration.
Click to expand...

That's true. We are building a much more powerful rig than the revered Mr Wharram ever imagined. We will need to be very careful how we use it, and there is still an excellent chance that something fundamental will break.

Its a bit like putting a turbocharged v8 into a Morris Minor.
 
whipper_snapper said:
That's true. We are building a much more powerful rig than the revered Mr Wharram ever imagined. We will need to be very careful how we use it, and there is still an excellent chance that something fundamental will break.

Its a bit like putting a turbocharged v8 into a Morris Minor.
Click to expand...

With your location I suspect that the material to use is the one the one that will last best in UV.
 
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