[Alan H]

I'm serious about that. I've had my North laminated mylar/pentex sail for four years and while the shape is still pretty good, stuff like leech flutter and stress along the luff and general wear and tear is causing the laminate to beak along the stress lines. I caught part of the leading edge on the reefing hook a couple of weeks ago and put an eight inch tear, longitudinally in the fabric. I've got it taped up with two layers of 4 oz Dacron tape and the tear is in line with the majjor stress loads in the sail rather than across them, so it's OK for now, but that isn't very encouraging. I was barely pulling on the sail at all and it self-destructed.

I've kept the sail covered, so it's not UV degradation.

I'll be sticking with plastic laminated Pentex headsails because I think the shape retention and weight savings is worth it, but the longevity and flexibility of crosscut dacron in a semi-stiff fabric is looking really attractive right now for my next mainsail. I can't go drop $3700 on a new sail every three-four years. I mean, if I was out every weekend, that'd be one thing, but I'm not. I sail once a month, though I do beat up my sail a bit, being a singlehander. I can't be buying sails that don't last, like that.

yup, the next main is going to be dacron.

OK, let the screaming and hollering begin!

[Remodel]

Alan, there is some wisdom in what you say. For your purposes, dacron may be a viable alternative. After all, it is the one material that allows you to do long lasting and durable repairs with minimal resources, anywhere in the world.

That said, you might want to take a look at the Bainbridge cruise laminates. These have improved dramatiacally over the years and have become very much more durable in terms of both shape holding and longevity.

Both dacron and a cruise laminate are going to cost you in terms of weight, and the cruise lam will be expensive by comparison.

Good luck, I can't wait for the write up of your Pacific Cup.
R.

[Bash24]

Alan H, on Mar 9 2004, 09:02 PM, said:

yup, the next main is going to be dacron.

Me too.

[Greg Jarvis]

nothing wrong with a good quality Dacron mainsail.
make sure you ask for the "good stuff", not the cruise level Dacron.

[Tripp_Gal]

Alan,

Good on you! We raced with dacron for years and did fine. The only reason we have lams now is because of the size of the sail and the weight logistics.

As to the tarp sails... There was a guy up here who made his out of tyvec. Yep, even had the TYVEC trademark all over it. He explained that his neighbor had a leftover roll from a re-siding project so he asked the fellow for it. I cannot for the life of me remember how it was stitched/glued. Very unique, I haven't seen it anywhere else since.

Dee

[duncan (the other one)]

wot about spectra?

duncan

[born2sail]

I also think Dacron (the good stuff per Greg's comment) lends itself better to on-the-water repair.

AH, you'll be getting the new sail before July, right?

[Editor]

Just make sure you get it from one of our advertisers!!

[George Hackett]

i see no problem with dacron. i just put a dacron main and pentex smoke genoa on a J-35 here in manila and they are going great guns with that set up. and as mentioned in several thread. make sure you get cruising type cloth if that is what you do or the firmer cloth for racing. i might suggest asking your sailmaker to cut just a little flatter initially to account for the stretch latter in the life of the sail. and if you are really looking at longevity. maybe even go with full length battens. help to stop the shaking in tacks and stalls before a start. the J-35 here has four full length battens in his dacron main.

i hope this helps.

[Mitch]

George, Any issues with battens blowing through the luff on something like a J35?

[George Hackett]

i also have full length battens on my J-35 using pentex. the main is a year old now and i have not seen any signs of the luff fittings failing. on my previous main, mylar with the top two battens full length which lasted me five season also showed not failure. in fact the cloth delaminated and the fittings look good. aquabatten and blue streak make very good products. i use blue streak which is sold through contender sailcloth.

[thirty three]

.., dacron works for most of us in terms of value factors such as durability, retention of shape and after sales service..,

.., I have found rolling my main rather than flake-ing it has helped alot with maintaining the cloth as the resin does not get kinked as often and therefore the bias is less likely to creep.

Thanks for your insight Alan.., the time and effor you put into your posts is appreciated.

Cheers,
thirtythree

[Big Show]

Alan, I don't think anyone's going to criticize what appears to be a practical choice simply because, save for the wealthy, "use" vs. budget has so much to do with fabric choice. If you singlehand once a month there's no need to break your bank on string sails

If you do race I suggest you cruise with your present set as long as they last and race with the alabaster white dacron. Proper.

[George Hackett]

Guest, on Mar 10 2004, 07:54 AM, said:

My last main (27 foot racer cruiser) - sail purchased 1 1/2 years ago - was a cross cut dacron - because I can't afford a new one every 4 years for club racing. After 1 1/2 years, looks great, great speed, no regrets. I'll stick to kevlar for the genny, though.

sounds like a good combo. although for a 27ftr, i would recomend pentex. not a bad cloth at all and not as costly as kevlar. worth a look.

[Alan H]

I have pentex headsails, I like them all and they've held up well. It's just the main that's taken it in the shorts.

Some good hints here, thanks folks....I'll be buying it from Ullmer Kolius when the day comes, which will probably be this Fall. I think the old main is going to have to see me get to Hawaii and back before it gets retired.

[Phil]

Alan.do you have slides or bolt rope on the luff?

I'd seriously look at the full lenght battens,for your 30'er,longevity is the key.

Our dacron racing sail was made in '99[Wed/Thurs in 90],it still has bloody good shape,so much so that as I said earlier the sailmaker came down on a Sunday to check it out.

[j_dirge]

Alan,

I had a dacron main made for my J35. Rui recut it due to a gross measurement error on my part. I sailed it recently and the boat moved quite well. I am considerig using it for early SH races thise year, especially if the wind is up. I have not decided yet if it will be my main for the Transpac, but am 75% sure it will be.

For OD racing I still have my 3DL and Genesis mains... a little long in the tooth but still holding up. The 3DL was made in '95 but has only been sailed in a half dozen or so regattas. Looks brand new. The Geneisis (sorry Ed.) has been bomb proof. Its seen 35 kn on the nose a few times, reefed, been thrashed about on the city front, etc. and after 5 yrs is still good to go for one more year.

jim

[j_dirge]

George Hackett, on Mar 9 2004, 11:47 PM, said:

i also have full length battens on my J-35 using pentex.

I take it these J35s in the Phillipines are not raced OD.

[Rail Meat]

Carbon main with tafetta. The tafetta seems to be doing a good job with controlling any break down of the laminate due to flutter. Full length battens have also been huge help with that as well. The only problem I have had is chafe from the leech reef lines.

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