Tanbark?

[StellaBorealis]

Stella looks like she wouldnt mind Tanbark sails, I like them but the problem is all the Tanbark pictures and sails I see out there look red in color. The ones offered by the sailmaker look very dark brown in color. Anybody get Tanbark colored sails that looked Brown and then turned red in the sunlight? I have no idea why I thought tanbark looked red when its brown.

Here is a picture of one under full sail, whaddaya think, tanbark?

http://lencole.home.sprynet.com/fullsail.JPG

Thank you all in advance,
Adam Yuret
s/v Stella Borealis

 

[Peterduck]

I have tan sails on my old gaff ketch, and they are a reddish brown. Eric Hiscock preferred tan sails on his various "Wanderer"s because they were less glaring in the tropical sun. Made them a lot easier to live with on a long-term basis. I can confirm this. When you have serious amounts of sunshine to deal with, anything that makes it easier is bliss.
Peter.

 

[Mirelle]

I think that you will find that "tanbark" sailcloth in polyester (Terylene) will look brown until the light shines through it, at which point it will look a very attractive dark red colour.

 

[Transcur]

If you do some research on sail cloth you will find a lot of variation in colour. Contender "Tan Bark" is really quite brown. Speak to a good sail maker and bet some samples. The best sail cloth is not tanned only inferior grades. Not really noticable unless you race seriously. There are about six main sail cloth weavers.

 

[StellaBorealis]

Hmm yes the sail material is Contender and looks very brown, is this the material itself or will it look more red when its in the sun? I know its a bit shallow to care if my sails look brown or red but I dont like Chocolate pudding colored sails and I love the tanbark reddish brown color.

 

[Transcur]

Conterner will still look brown even after a few years. Haywards cloth is redder.