UV Strip Protection for furling Headsail

[jackho]

Is this not an outdated form of protection for headsails.
Is there a spray (like Teflon) available that would provide similar protection?
I am reluctant to outlay the cost of a UV strip on a new sail that will impact the effeciency/performance (in my opinion) if an alternative "solution" is on the market.
Any guidance or opinions appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Mmmm considering the cost of re-stitching a sail ...... and cost of initial adding of UV strip - often part of the sail cost anyway .....

The UV cloth in fact is quite light and I wouldn't have thought would impact on sail performance unless racing dacron / mylar sail etc. - then it would most likely be de-riiged at end of days racing anyway ... so not need UV protection.

 

[tangofour]

Doesn't anybody manufacture a 'sausage' cover that could be hoisted over the furled sail on a second halyard? It would be cheaper to replace than having new panels stitched on to the sail.

 

[Guest]

Sausage ...

Use a converted snuffer ? But surely that would be more expensive than having a strip ?

 

[Aardee]

Re: Sausage ...

The Genoa "sausage" does exist, there's a few in our marina. I'm sure a trawl of the online chandlers will find one.

EDIT: reply to Tangofour, not sbc...oops

 

[Skyva_2]

Re: Sausage ...

have seen such zipped bags for genoas with 'diamond' lanyards to tighten them, but I guess they would cost circa £200; cheaper than replacing a UV strip every 4-5 years, but a hassle to rig after every sail. The UV strip has little impact on performance on a cruising boat, and certainly prolongs the life of the sail - thats why they need replacing.

 

[VicS]

Yes Compass Watersports do a range but the cost is the same as we paid to have the sail washed and a new UV strip fitted together with some additional work.

 

[oldestgit]

Steve at “Master Covers” in Port Solent...

He did mine, Purpose made Genoa sleeve with full length Zip and pull ups all hoisted with the Spinney halyard.... Great, and it covers any foresail you might have on the furler.

Highly recommended.... Peter

 

[vyv_cox]

We saw many of these sausages during our years in Holland, they seem to be quite common there. We also saw many owners struggling either to get them up in a blow and get them down on a whole variety of occasions. Walking around any marina in a blow we could always see a few flapping, inevitably causing lots of cyclic stress to the forestay and fittings.

Conversely, a UV strip is absolutely foolproof. After six years of considerable use, including the last three years living aboard May - September in the Med, some of the stitching on ours needs to be replaced but the cloth seems to have years left in it.

 

[alldownwind]

A couple who are friends of ours have one of these genoa sausages. At the end of the day's sailing, they always seem to end up having a minor 'domestic' getting the thing over the sail, while we have long since finished tidying up and are well into our first beverage.

 

[srp]

I made a sausage for my foresail - it had 2 zips, one short and one long, so that I can leave the sheets attached. It's a piece of cake to haul up (on a length of 4mm line). I clip the toggle on the long zip to the jib sheet so that as I pull on the halyard it automatically zips itself as it goes up.
All those who struggle with one of these are either completely inept or it's made from the wrong material - it has to be a lightweight slippery sort of fabric. I bought mine from Kayospruce, and it was called lightweight acrylic canvas. If it flaps around in a gale then its the wrong size. Total cost was about £50, plus a fiver for the sewing machine at a car boot sale.

 

[SvenglishTommy]

Those sausages are a complete waste fo time. I have one which never gets used, basically I dont care about damage to my current sail (it's damage goes way beyond UV), but the next one will have UV strip. How much speed do you think the UV strip will cost you?

Whatever time you make up by not having the strip will be negated by the time you spend hoisting and lowering the sausage - this is time that could be far better spent, by drinking G&Ts or the like /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Unless you are racing of course, in which case you shouldn't even have a furler /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[rudolph_hart]

Second that.

Our boat (bought in Holland) came with a zipped sausage for the foresail. Beatifully made, but I found it to be a right P.I.T.A. to fit each time.

It's now in the garage (waiting to be put on eBay), and the foresail has a UV strip.

 

[paulwitney]

Invent a spray on uv protection and you'll make a fortune!!! Just give me a cut of the profits for encouragement.

 

[bobgosling]

[ QUOTE ]
Invent a spray on uv protection and you'll make a fortune!!! Just give me a cut of the profits for encouragement.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hasn't someone already done that ? That would be spray-on sun cream wouldn't it ? Would cost a fortune to spray your sail each time you unrolled it !