To illuminate how bad this can be, I have a Code 0 in a bag in 3 pieces which I cannot bring myself to throw away. I am not a hoarder otherwise but this seems to be a bit of a blind spot!
Sail condition
- Thread starter madmax
- Start date
For the ones you do not wish to use as sails, you can send them to a sail-maker or upholsterer to make covers for the deck and other uses.
It will help your sail shopping - a LOT - if you weed out the "R" word and the "C" word from your vocabulary. It's all about sails with the best shape and material for "Sailing"... Whether you spend nights aboard or enter a race is secondary.
Spending more on better sails is a budget concern and that often depends on how long you plan to keep your boat. I have friends with Catalina's from this series (309, 310, 320) and these were a good sailing design. No way would I denigrate a Catalina 320.
FWIW, I used to buy from UK because back in the stone age I was a rep for them, and nowadays use a local North loft and receive great advice and after-purchase advice from them.
Good Luck!
Spending more on better sails is a budget concern and that often depends on how long you plan to keep your boat. I have friends with Catalina's from this series (309, 310, 320) and these were a good sailing design. No way would I denigrate a Catalina 320.
FWIW, I used to buy from UK because back in the stone age I was a rep for them, and nowadays use a local North loft and receive great advice and after-purchase advice from them.
Good Luck!
I've found that North Sails is excellent - however, because they have to support a lot of "advertising" their prices tend to be on the high side. I've found if you can find "good" local sailmaker, they can make excellent sails for lower prices. I put the "good" because that is difficult to ascertain and if it can't be done reasonably - meaning how do you do that - a very hard question to reliably answer - then North Sails is an excellent option.It will help your sail shopping - a LOT - if you weed out the "R" word and the "C" word from your vocabulary. It's all about sails with the best shape and material for "Sailing"... Whether you spend nights aboard or enter a race is secondary.
Spending more on better sails is a budget concern and that often depends on how long you plan to keep your boat. I have friends with Catalina's from this series (309, 310, 320) and these were a good sailing design. No way would I denigrate a Catalina 320.
FWIW, I used to buy from UK because back in the stone age I was a rep for them, and nowadays use a local North loft and receive great advice and after-purchase advice from them.
Good Luck!
When you say remove the "R" or "C" I assume you mean racing or cruising. While I somewhat agree with that, I think the biggest thing anyone needs to assess is a reality check of how one is going to sail. How long one is planning to keep the boat is important, but most of us will have a hard time really knowing the answer to that unless there is a clear plan to upgrade the boat in a known, or an expected, time frame. I feel most of us have a "as long as possible" mentality. But each has to decide that for themselves.
"As long as possible" is directly tied to how one sails. For example, I'm a cruiser, I do a lot of off-shore sailing. In fact it's primarily how I sail. So the tradition dacron sails won't work for me. I could easily blow them out in one (OK, maybe a couple) off-shore sail if I get caught in a major storm. I'm never selling my boat until the day comes when I can no longer sail. I want sails that give good performance, I do like to sail fast, and I want them to remain viable for as long as reasonably possible.
dj
I hear this a lot about sail trim and sail shape discussions, and there I completely agree with it. For sail design and material I’m not so sure. The right material for a racer is going to be something very low stretch, and they’re more likely to compromise durability. A cruiser will want something that works in a wider wind range and can hold up to less delicate handling.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,602
We buy modern sloop rigged boats with their resin-impregnated or film-layered sails and often forget about the traditions of sails, hand-stitched and cared for by the sailor's family and friends.
A time when sails billowed, carrying us off the wind.
And oxen would drag the boat and the fishermen's catch ashore.
A time when sails billowed, carrying us off the wind.
And oxen would drag the boat and the fishermen's catch ashore.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,602
Right you are @sailme88 .
With such limits, they needed knowledge of the winds, the capabilities of their boats, and a recognition that maybe the nearest harbor was the safest harbor when Mother Nature got fussy.
Our dependence on modern equipment sometimes finds us in situations that are beyond our skill level. Then Darwinian theory takes over.
With such limits, they needed knowledge of the winds, the capabilities of their boats, and a recognition that maybe the nearest harbor was the safest harbor when Mother Nature got fussy.
Our dependence on modern equipment sometimes finds us in situations that are beyond our skill level. Then Darwinian theory takes over.
I do get frustrated at the people debating the precise physics when someone is just trying to understand the principles of lift and how to maximize it to make their boat faster or sail better at a desired angle.
Whether it is vacuum or high pressure acting on the sail is immaterial to all but the finest elements of sail trim.
The baggy sails (by today's standards) were a feature, not a hindrance, on a square rigger. The square rigger was designed basically as a spinnaker with a yard at the top to keep the large area filled. The windflow was over the top of the sail from downwind to broad reach.
When needing to go closer to the wind, the windward edge of the sail would be stretched as tight as possible by angling the yards vertically, somewhat simulating a tight luff on a contemporary sail. Now the same sail would have the windflow across the sail, just like today's fore and aft rigs. The better square riggers and their sailmasters could actually get tack angles as small as 110 degrees.
When needing to go closer to the wind, the windward edge of the sail would be stretched as tight as possible by angling the yards vertically, somewhat simulating a tight luff on a contemporary sail. Now the same sail would have the windflow across the sail, just like today's fore and aft rigs. The better square riggers and their sailmasters could actually get tack angles as small as 110 degrees.
It’s probably not that different. Laminated sails, especially racing ones with Kevlar as the load bearing material, often have skins of Mylar to hold the Kevlar in place and provide a surface that the wind can’t penetrate. A few layers of Mylar and Kevlar could look a little like a tarp, but it’ll be a lot stronger and less stretchy.