Why are sails white.

Nostrodamus

Nostrodamus

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In general 99% of sails are white yet spinnakers and cruising chutes are multi coloured.

I don't know but I presume it it for longevity in the sun which might be good in the Med but does it make a difference in the UK?

White sails do get dirty so why not make them different colours or have something that makes them stand out or more visible?

So why are sails white and spinnakers multi coloured?
 
When sails were made from canvass and somtimes cotton,the natural colour was white..why go to the expense of dying it.Suppose the tradition of white sails just carried on.
Having said that I have a 1960's 14ft clinker dinghy with red sails which were quite popular at the time..also aren't many of the "old gaffers" brown or red?
Not much green orange or blue though!
.....having just said that I have in front of me a copy(just catching up on my reading)of July 1973 Practical Boat Owner and it has a yacht with light blue sails..so there we go!
Anyone find green or orange?
 
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I have been told, but can't be sure of accuracy, that coloured sailcloth is more prone to UV degradation, white sailcloth reflects more of the harmful rays.

I had a Devon Yawl for some years and they had tan sails. It was certainly true that the rolled genoa did fade quickly, and when I got a new one I had a tubular zipped cover made to protect it.
 
I've always understood it as being a hangover from the days of cotton and canvas sails

Sails that were permanently bent on such as mainsails and staysails were often treated with tannin based preservatives hence they were a dark reddish colour, jibs, topsails, kites etc that were stowed below decks when not in use were left their natural colour

May be total cobblers of course but its always seemd plausible anyway!
 
Mad Pad said:
When sails were made from canvass and somtimes cotton,the natural colour was white..
Click to expand...

Strictly, the colour is ecru.

And many racing boats have sails that are darkened by laminates, carbon fibres, etc.

TP52-yacht-Hooligan-2.jpg
 
Having the choice of white and black in the sail wardrobe didn't work out too well for Theseus, so that's probably one reason for sticking to white.
 
Leighb said:
I have been told, but can't be sure of accuracy, that coloured sailcloth is more prone to UV degradation, white sailcloth reflects more of the harmful rays.

I had a Devon Yawl for some years and they had tan sails. It was certainly true that the rolled genoa did fade quickly, and when I got a new one I had a tubular zipped cover made to protect it.
Click to expand...


I've heard about it too. It's fair enough I guess..
 
I did once see a sail boat with an orange jib. It wasn't a storm jib, just a normal one but I could see the boat from miles away and quickly scanning the horizon I could see it quickly every time. Usually when a boat with white sails is on the horizon it takes some identifying.
Same with a boat with a colourful spinnaker up.. you can see them strait away.
 
Mad Pad said:
When sails were made from canvass and somtimes cotton,the natural colour was white..why go to the expense of dying it.Suppose the tradition of white sails just carried on.
Having said that I have a 1960's 14ft clinker dinghy with red sails which were quite popular at the time..also aren't many of the "old gaffers" brown or red?
Not much green orange or blue though!
.....having just said that I have in front of me a copy(just catching up on my reading)of July 1973 Practical Boat Owner and it has a yacht with light blue sails..so there we go!
Anyone find green or orange?
Click to expand...
Egyptian cotton was white and considered the best at the time for sail making.
 
White cloth is cheaper! It costs money to add pigments, then colour matching becomes necessary, an expensive activity (I used to do it). When we raced Hobie 16s it was apparent that Dutch sailors, renowned for not spending money unnecessarily, always bought white instead of the multi-coloured options, simply because they cost less.
 
Erbas said:
I've always understood it as being a hangover from the days of cotton and canvas sails

Sails that were permanently bent on such as mainsails and staysails were often treated with tannin based preservatives hence they were a dark reddish colour, jibs, topsails, kites etc that were stowed below decks when not in use were left their natural colour

May be total cobblers of course but its always seemd plausible anyway!
Click to expand...

I think there may have been a bit of snobbery, too. Tan sails were for working boats while white sails were for upmarket yachts. Or I could just be imagining it. Anyway, my boat doesn't have white sails.
 
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