Cruising laminate sails heavier than the dacron ones?

[ASR Marine]

I would like to add my 2 stitches (cents) here as being a sailmaker for over 25 years this really boils down to what your individual need is.
1. Are you do local or distance cruising?
2. Do you have furling systems for the Main and or the Genoa?
3. Will you have to winterize your sails?
4. Where do you predominantly sail in light air med or heavy air conditions?
5. How many years of sailing out of a sail do you want?
6. Do you typically take good care of your sails or not?
I have many more questions to really get you the answer you want, but in short a Dacron will outlast a Laminate.
hands down.
A laminate will outperform a dacron no problem.....but sun and continued salt build up on any sail shorten the lifespan of any sail.
Mold is one the most unspoken problems of laminate sails. the water gets in the stitches grows and delaminates the sails, here is where customer care comes in. Some care some don't, the ones that don't are not happy with laminate sails.
I can go for a while if you want more info PM me I will get back to you.....

 

[danstanford]

1. Are you do local or distance cruising? Day sailing and a couple of weeks of day sailing port to port on Lake Ontario. Weekly white sail racing where we are reasonably well trimmed and slowly improving tactics but feeling like we are being sailed away from by some pretty old boats with good sails.
2. Do you have furling systems for the Main and or the Genoa? Furling for both. Racing crew would be great with standard and/or hanked on sails but my wife loves the convenience of the furlers.
3. Will you have to winterize your sails? We dry out, fold up, and store our sails inside our house for the winter. Would do more if needed but I don't know what else to do for them in terms of winterization.
4. Where do you predominantly sail in light air med or heavy air conditions? We sail in all conditions up to 30 knots or so but feel our light air performance is particularly bad. Perhaps mostly because we keep lour boat pretty heavy compared to the Guys who just race. Apparently pillows, water, BBQ, towels, toiletries, etc. are important to the woman I love!
5. How many years of sailing out of a sail do you want? If I got 5 good years I would be happy.
6. Do you typically take good care of your sails or not? I think we are good to them, absolute minimum of flogging, would dry them out after getting them soaked. We take care to furl them well and are good to them in the winter. That said, pounding them in a good blow and going fast is something I do not shy away from though this would be 20-25 knots as a normal peak wind speed.
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Answers in italics above. PM to come. Thanks

 

[dLj]

Answers in italics above. PM to come. Thanks

While I understand the preference for a PM, I would most certainly like to hear the answers to the above questions if possible.

dj