Leach cut sails

[Paul Marx]

I recently purchased a used sail and it has what I believe is called a leach cut, ie the seams are parallel to the leach. I am familiar with cross cut and triradial cuts and their advantages, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of a leach cut sail?

 

[Bill Colombo]

Leech Cut Genoas

Paul, The leech cut Genoa was originally conceived to take advantage of warp oriented Dacron styles of cloth that were introduced in the late 1980's. Unfortunately the cloth did not live up to expectations and was discontinued. One advantage was that the leech panel itself could be made out of UV Dacron thus eliminating the need for a UV Cover and making the sail less expensive. Even the best UV degrades over times so most of these sails have not survived. Another disadvantage was that it was difficult to keep the leech from falling off since it is a flat piece of cloth with no seams with which to tighten the leech.Thanks,Bill ColomboDoyle Sailmakers

 

[Paul Marx]

Thanks

Thank you for the response. I noticed that this sai is somewhat flatter than my cross cut and my triradial cut sails. It does have a sacraficial cover, so I assume the leach panel is not anything any different than the rest of the sail.From your response, it seems that without the ablility to shape the leach with horizontal seams, it is difficult to control the relative length of the leach to the adjacent area of the sail by contouring the panel. I haven't noticed that the leach falls off, but I have noticed that the sheeting angle is more tempermental than my other sails. I am having the sail recut using the angle method I mentioned in my other post.Thanks againPaul