Spinnaker material

Gone sailing

Gone sailing

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Hello.
I have a option to have a friends spinnaker (first) for my boat.
It seems to be the right size but i'm unsure of its weight and wind range?

On the makers label it says it is 32 grams per mt2. I can't seem to find a convertion table to ounces!?
Am I right to think that this is .75 ounces? What would the wind range be for this spinnaker?


Some background. I have a Cheverton crusader I would use the spinnaker for some low key club racing, I already have a cruising chute.
As a newbie to spinnys I'd probably only use it in lightish airs to begin with.

Any thoughts welcome.
 
It depends whether you want ounces per square yard, known as UK oz or the more usual Sailmaker ounces, also known as US oz, the difference being that the US system relates to a yard of fabric that is 28.5 inches wide.

Grammes per square metre into UK oz, multiply by 0.0295

Grammes per square metre into US oz, multiply by 0.0233
 
Just give the spin a try. It is unlikely that you would damage the cloth if you are new to spins as the boat will not like too much wind in the spin.ie only experiment in light winds. However having said that my first spin died from failure of the cloth after 12 years of racing. It seems the sun can really damge it making the nylon brittle and easily torn. So watch out that the spin is not too old.
 
William_H said:
Just give the spin a try. It is unlikely that you would damage the cloth if you are new to spins as the boat will not like too much wind in the spin.ie only experiment in light winds. However having said that my first spin died from failure of the cloth after 12 years of racing. It seems the sun can really damge it making the nylon brittle and easily torn. So watch out that the spin is not too old.
Click to expand...

Very sensible advice there.
 
In answer to the windspeed element of your question, most references I can find suggest that weight OK for winds up to around 15kn. So light wind use, douse it when reefing! It does, of course, bring up the question of whether that is 15kn true or apparent, as the sail only sees the apparent wind. Like with white sails, if you fly the kite in 15kn apparent then come onto the wind, you may well find yourself uncomfortably overpressed unless you reef before coming on the wind.

Rob.
 
Grab a handfull of cloth, hold it against your mouth and try and blow through it; rough and ready test for porosity.
 
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