Plevier
Active member
I'm considering new crosscut main and genoa for a Jeanneau 32, both sails are high aspect ratio, almost exactly 3:1.
Conventional wisdom is that you use a cloth with the fill heavier than the warp in about the same ratio of denier as the aspect ratio of the sail. I was therefore expecting to use something like Challenge HA which is 150x440 (6.6oz) or 220x570 (7.7oz). For comparison Challenge LA is 250x420 (7oz) and a low aspect ratio sail is in the 2:1 region. So you can see the ratios roughly matching.
However two sailmakers have recommended using a more balanced weave instead. One has suggested Contender Supercruise (not a premium cloth) which is 250x500 (7oz) - more like a low aspect one - and the other has suggested DP Square (definitely a premium cloth) which is absolutely balanced at 250x250 and even said to be suitable for radial cut sails.
Both sailmakers said that the high aspect cloth might give a slightly better shape when new but the balanced one would last longer.
I rang DP, the chap there initially suggested their strong fill/high aspect cloth but then agreed that their Square would indeed be hardly inferior when new and would last longer.
So is all this business of carefully selecting the balance of the weave a load of baloney? Has it been made irrelevant by modern fibres and tight weaving techniques or what? If so why do all the big firms continue to produce all these specialist weaves if one like Square will do everything? Is crimp no longer a significant factor to consider? I'm quite puzzled and not sure what to use.
Conventional wisdom is that you use a cloth with the fill heavier than the warp in about the same ratio of denier as the aspect ratio of the sail. I was therefore expecting to use something like Challenge HA which is 150x440 (6.6oz) or 220x570 (7.7oz). For comparison Challenge LA is 250x420 (7oz) and a low aspect ratio sail is in the 2:1 region. So you can see the ratios roughly matching.
However two sailmakers have recommended using a more balanced weave instead. One has suggested Contender Supercruise (not a premium cloth) which is 250x500 (7oz) - more like a low aspect one - and the other has suggested DP Square (definitely a premium cloth) which is absolutely balanced at 250x250 and even said to be suitable for radial cut sails.
Both sailmakers said that the high aspect cloth might give a slightly better shape when new but the balanced one would last longer.
I rang DP, the chap there initially suggested their strong fill/high aspect cloth but then agreed that their Square would indeed be hardly inferior when new and would last longer.
So is all this business of carefully selecting the balance of the weave a load of baloney? Has it been made irrelevant by modern fibres and tight weaving techniques or what? If so why do all the big firms continue to produce all these specialist weaves if one like Square will do everything? Is crimp no longer a significant factor to consider? I'm quite puzzled and not sure what to use.