what type of sail cloth should we look for

Z

Zhivili

Member
Joined
7 May 2002
Messages
26
Visit site
We are looking to buy new sails for our boat. Main use is crusing in the Solent, West Country and Cross Channel. Various sail makers have quoted different cloths - Crusader quote super cruise ; Jeckells quote either Premium High Modulas Dacron ; alternatively Jeckells quote Marblehead ; Lucas Sails say they will use a cloth made for Hoods. This is all very confusing. Crusader is the cheapest, but is their cloth "super cruise" inferior - are the other cloths better and are they worth paying for.
 
Having just gone through the process it looks as though your going for entry level dacron sails . Through my laymans eyes the cloths you mention are all very similar. Super cruise is made by Contender.So many brands and descriptions each sail maker has a favourite.
Its a mine field.
My advice - choose a couple of sail makers that appeal, for what ever reason, then talk to them about what you want and follow their advice to help you come to a decision, they are the experts after all and want you to be a happy customer.

I can recommend Kemps, very helpful and so got my order.
Howard
 
ps.
I went for Dimension polyant square 380 8 oz cloth . A couple steps up from super cruise and sure a bit more expensive. Should stretch less and its stiffer as to its worth only time will tell.

Howard.
 
Using cruising laminates will increase the cost of a sail by atleast a third.During my discussions with Kemp laminates are more suited to foresails than mains as they prefer to be rolled rather than folded frequently. But if budget permits laminates probably best all round.
Howard
 
for what it's worth i've just bought a rather nice set of sails from North at a sensible price compared to other manufactures made out of Norlam very pleased
 
If you want cheap sails that will remain baggy triangles forever, go for dacron.

If you want sails that maintain their shape buy laminate. I had a furling genoa and mainsail made for an Atlantic circuit. After 18,000 miles they where still perfect, a touch of leach curl on the genoa accepted.

The cost is less than you think. The difference over high quality dacron was about £120 for a 33' fractional mainsail.

Crappy sails on otherwise good cruising boats, breaks my heart.
 
You are absolutly right but the difference for me having just gone through it was that a laminate main would have cost me another £700 for a 32' fractional . So I plumped for fully battened with the aforementioned recommended higher quality dacron .All comes down to money in the end.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Get 'em made from a cruising laminate, not soggy old dacron. You won't regret it.

[/ QUOTE ] Agree, particularly for the genoa. Crusader came up trumps and I'm delighted with the sail, a superior product to dacron. Not comparable price wise to a cheepy dacron, but not much more than a good quality dacron. It does depend on the time of year you buy, when the 25% discounts are going the rounds, it narrows the gap even more.
 
We bought Hood Vectran something like 6 or 7 years ago. At that time we probably paid about 20% more for them than for equivalent sails in standard Dacrons. The sails have been used heavily, almost every weekend of the year plus holidays for the first three years, 5-6 months of each of the past four years. They are still virtually perfect, no detectable stretch or shape change. Some stitching has worn out and been replaced but the sail cloth is almost as new.

These sails replaced three year old Dacron ones, admittedly in lighter cloth, that were totally clapped out.

Cloth weight is worth thinking about; unless you want to race in light winds consider going for the heaviest on offer. Their life will be greatly improved, even if the fibre is not top quality.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you want cheap sails that will remain baggy triangles forever, go for dacron.... If you want sails that maintain their shape buy laminate.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not necessarily true, Vectran sailcloth is not a laminate and very stretch resistant, after all Global Challenge yachts are still sailing with Vectran sails which have been round the world to windward. It is also less damage prone and more easily reparied than a laminate IMHO.
 
Depends on size and weight of the sail and its purpose. Most vectran cloth is dacron based with vectran fibres woven into it and hardly looks any different from dacron.
 
OK I admit defeat on the Vectran question.

All I'm trying to do is encourage cruising boats to have decent sails. Probably easier in the days of cotton; then they just rotted away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top