@Jackdaw,
Lite Skin, a Trademark of Dimension Polyant, is made of randomly oriented polyester fibres lightly glued toether in a composite. LiteSkin does not include a polyester film (aka mylar). It contains neither polyester film (mylar), nor carbon fibres, nor aramid fibres (eg technora or twaron).
LiteSkin (TM) is dark grey and "looks fast." and resists water absorbtion and abrasion. It's really good at resisting wrinkling and helps to reduce the shrinkage that laminate sails are prone to. (typical laminate sail cloth shrinks about 2% in the first year - did you know that?)
Almost by definition, cruising sails don't have carbon fibers in them. Carbon is too brittle and breaks down in two or three seasons.
Cruising laminates have been made with polyester mesh scrims between mylar films for the past 20+ years. Polyester scrims are long lasting, not brittle, and contribute greatly to improved shape stability compared to traditional cross-cut woven dacron sails.
I would hazard a
guess that UK's CX laminate is a private-label version of DP's DCX cruising laminate, which consists of a a polyester scrim/mesh laminated between mylar (polyester film). Both these laminates are for building radial cut, paneled sails. (not loadpath "string" sails), (But you'd have to ask UK directly, "what is the scrim mesh made of", because I couldn't fnd any references on their website so it's just an educated guess).
DCX is a very nice cruising laminate and has been around for a long time. What's new is that you can get it in grey, instead of white. DCX is very comparable in performance and price to Contenders product CDX, which is also a cruising laminate with a polyester scrim.
Adding LiteSkin or a grey taffeta makes it look like a carbon sail, but doesn't boost the performance a whole lot. It's a very nice cruising laminate and has been around for a long time.
I would say that the cruising laminates with polyester scrims are comparable in terms of shape performance to tri-radial warp oriented woven polyester when new. Warp oriented radial dacrons will stretch a little faster than polyester scrim laminates, but they will outlast any laminate with mylar film by far.
Grey color doesn't mean there's any carbon or aramid fibers in the sails. It's just a color that can command a small premium in price. Polyester/dacron fibers can be black or white, sandwiched between clear or grey colored mylar, with a shiney or a matt finish. Or black fibres could be carbon or black aramids, (such as twaron or technora). But you'll pay more for black and grey sails, because the manufacturers can get a premium price for them.
Judy B
Semi-retired Sailmaker