Old Kevlar Racing Sail: 2 Seasons ... or 2 Outings?

[rardiH36]

Wondering what the SBO community thinks will be the life-span of the headsail pictured. My typical outing lasts 3-4 hours in 15-25 kts winds.

Background is: Last year I stopped by a sail loft in Alameda CA to scout out if maybe I could score on a used but serviceable head sail. The proprietor pulled out a several generations ago Kevlar racing sail designed for (and used on) a Farr 40. Looked in good condition. The jib was too long in the luff for my Cherubini Hunter 36. But the proprietor proposed : "How about $100?" Me with an adequate sewing machine, an ample supply of V92 sail thread, an old Weller soldering gun that I had modified to cut/anneal synthetic fabric, and various other miscellaneous tools that were perfect for effecting a good butcher job caused me to pause and consider the potential. For only one Benjamin, I agreed.

The UV cover along the leach is Sunbrella fabric from an old mainsail cover turned inside out.

The original sail construction is Kevlar woven mylar type laminate as the "base material". But also the original sail maker (UK Sails) affixed onto the base material a self-stick Kevlar tape as added reinforcement. I have noticed that in places it ain't sticking too well anymore. I suspect this is one reason that earlier generation racing sails have a bad rap for general use.

Other than time, the project didn't set me back hardly at all.

 

[Jackdaw]

OK some thoughts.

First laminated racing sails typically will start to physically break down before they lose their shape. Probably why it cost 100 bucks. Probably what was left to it, life-wise.

But a few things are going for you.

First the Farr 40 is a hyper competitive fleet, where seconds matter. Once the sail is 'done for' no one else would ever race with it. And NO ONE cruises those boats. So maybe there is more life as the leach might have started to hook.

Second the sail is a UK tapedrive. Those 'tapes' are actually the primary load bearing structure, everything else (the mylar scrim and dacron taffeta) just hold them in place. They are some of the most durable laminate sails made, IF the tag says UK Sails and not UK-Hasley. The older Hasley ones were a bit dodgy.

The tapes need to run ALL THE WAY from the corners. If you cut them before the corners you should add extra stickyback repair tape and sew it on to help.

How did you plan to deal with the battens?? That sail needs then because like all racing boat the Farr 40's jib has a positive roach. Roller furling racing jibs have vertical battens to deal with that. Those will not roll with those battens, and without them the leach will flutter like crazy.


But all and all, it does not look bad! nice job.

 

[shemandr]

I inherited a UK tape drive sail once. It wasn't worth much. But I have to say it held its shape. Eventually the sail became like a screen for a window. All the matrix material was disintegrating. But the shape was good.
I think you've got a pretty good sail there. There is the question of how a sail cut flat for an easily driven hull will perform on a cruising boat. I wonder if it will have enough drive. And while you can drive that sail upwind like a banshee, I don't know if the boat can follow. Nevertheless for a $100, it would be fun to try.

 

[rardiH36]

Jackdaw and shemandr:

Thanks. First of all, I embarked on this as a what-the-heck project. Certainly I didn't have any expectation that a neophyte modified racing head sail would make much a difference on a 1980 built cruising sailboat. But to be flying a metallic gold sail against a flood current and into a direct head wind while striving to break-through under the Golden Gate Bridge would feel pretty cool at the least.

Jackdaw: Wow -- you certainly are in the know about this. Definitely it's a UK Sail. I did throw away the tag that was on the sail which identified the boat name. It and the sail sail were from the Great Lakes Farr 40 fleet. Looking online at the time, I remember seeing that the boat was sold and the new owner transported it to the West Coast. As for the horizontal battens, obviously I can't use them with the sail now on a cruising boat's furler. And I don't really want to attempt to convert to vertical. I was out on SF Bay today in light to moderate winds. With the leach cord moderately tensioned, I didn't observe the leach fluttering at all. But in a 20-25kt blow ... might be a different flutter altogether.

shemander: To reduce the luff length, the sail loft proprietor suggested that I keep the existing tack and cut-off the head. Knowing that I was a DIY'er, he opined I should remove the luff tape then cut a straight line inside the luff upwards from the tack so that the luff length met my boat's measurement. Then reattach the head section and the sew the luff tape onto the new luff line. One outcome of this mod is that the previously deck swept foot is now a low angle "Yankee" sail. The bellow shape behind the luff is much flatter than my dacron headsails. Today I did notice that the tell tales were streaming correctly several degrees further into the wind than with my dacron sails. But as you mentioned, whether this translates into better upwind performance on a 1980 designed cruising hull is conjecture.

As long as I can still cross the bay, I am happy.

 

[shemandr]

I understand your desire to work upwind in windy conditions. To get home from cruising we have to sail up Little Peconic Bay, usually with a smokin' SW sea breeze and sometimes against a 1 to 2 knot current. Lots of waves.
So yes we would like to sail as close to the wind as possible. And if I had the chance to try a flat cut racing sail for $100 I would. It's all about learning.