Sail material choices

[XQSME]

Good afternoon all,

I am about to order some new sails for my Albacore, cruising and club racing use...what material should I choose?

Thanks
Tim

[Rupert]

Dacron.

[PeterV]

What choice do you have? Mylar and Dacron? If you want to use the same set for cruising then go for Dacron, as Mylar needs looking after well, always rolling and never folded.

[Pat]

Only Dacron is class legal as far as I know. Carbon is also banned.
If getting new, make sure you get windows as it makes seeing other boats so much easier.
McNamara sails are probably the most popular in the class, maybe because Mike Mac is an Albacore sailor, but we like our P&B set for inland as they are flatter cut.

[JimC]

Lot more complicated than that. There is definitely Dacron and Dacron. A jib I got for the IC a while back was a particularly heavily treated Dacron, and its disintegrating along crease lines, as much at least as a mylar sail might. For a cruising sail I'd specify a soft cloth with a minimum of heat treatment and other processing. It might stretch more, and look a bit tired quite quickly, but it would stand up much better to all the rough and tumble of reefing, dropping sail on the water, all the rest of it. For a racing sail I'd want something heavily treated and accept having to treat it with kid gloves, more so than some modern mylar cloths I think.

[sam mason]

Have a chat with Dan at Sail Register. I have been using their sails for years and I think we can say they are competitive. He used to offer a sort of super deluxe hard racing version or the same cut in a softer cloth either way good sails and worth a phone call. 01673 849893
Sam

[Ed]

I think the general opinion will be to talk to your sailmaker and see what he advises.

No point in asking him to use a cloth he doesn't know or have in stock. Just say you want a standard dacron for racing/crusing.

If you want to get an idea for what is available, you will find these sites of interest:

http://www.kayospruce.com/index.asp?sel ... 0Sailcloth

and this:

http://www.challengesailcloth.com/

I think one of the most used general-use dinghy dacrons is the Dacron 4.6oz High Aspect at:
http://www.kayospruce.com/index.asp?sel ... h=&subcat=


Of course, you could always have a go at making your own

eib