Hey Guys, I have a 3 year old roller furler 150 genoa from Doyle that has chafed where it rubs against the spreaders. The leech line sometimes gets caught & it's time to get it fixed. When I bought the sail Doyle recommended that I use a UV treated dacron UV protection strip instead of the usual sunbrella. They gave 2 reasons for using dacron: 1. It's lighter & will help the sail hold shape on a reach in light winds (which I get a lot of here in Boston); 2. Dacron adds to the structural integrity of the sail & sunbrella doesn't. Now that I need to get it fixed, some of the local repair lofts are recommending that I stick with sunbrella. Norm Cressy of the Marblehead Doyle loft (where I bought the sail) has about 30 years of sail making experience & I'm apt to defer to his loft's opinion, but I thought I'd ask: Anybody have a preference one way or the other?? Allen Schweitzer s/v Falstaff C-30 Hull# 632
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the tradeoffs
The sunbrella will last twice as long, but the treated dacron will sail twice as well. If you're heading for the Carribean, sunbrella is a no-brainer. If you're planning on sticking around Boston and sailing light air, the issue becomes whether you can afford to replace the covers every three years. On the other hand, how many more years are you hoping to get out of that genoa? If you think you'll be retiring it in three or four years, the dacron makes good sense. If you're thinking you'd like to see it make ten years, sunbrella will take you to that point.
The sunbrella will last twice as long, but the treated dacron will sail twice as well. If you're heading for the Carribean, sunbrella is a no-brainer. If you're planning on sticking around Boston and sailing light air, the issue becomes whether you can afford to replace the covers every three years. On the other hand, how many more years are you hoping to get out of that genoa? If you think you'll be retiring it in three or four years, the dacron makes good sense. If you're thinking you'd like to see it make ten years, sunbrella will take you to that point.
I'd go with UV dacron next time
Allen, here on Lake Ontario we can get a lot of light wind days in the summer and I have never been happy with my 150, with Sunbrella, under light conditions.....just too heavy. When it needs work I am going to look at the Dacron options. Kevin
Allen, here on Lake Ontario we can get a lot of light wind days in the summer and I have never been happy with my 150, with Sunbrella, under light conditions.....just too heavy. When it needs work I am going to look at the Dacron options. Kevin
Wish I had gone the other way
Last year I ordered new sails and was talked into Sunbrella on the genoa. It is of course great for protecting the sail but terrible for sail shape in light air - lots of weight right where you don't want it on the sail. Since I do some racing, that makes a big difference to me. If I had the decision to make again, I'd go for the UV Dacron and have a zippered sleeve made to fit outside that, of Sunbrella. Best of both worlds. The downside is additional cost, a little more time setting the boat up and putting it away, and some noise from the sleeve flapping if you don't have diagonal wraps running down it. That's the way I'll go next time.
Last year I ordered new sails and was talked into Sunbrella on the genoa. It is of course great for protecting the sail but terrible for sail shape in light air - lots of weight right where you don't want it on the sail. Since I do some racing, that makes a big difference to me. If I had the decision to make again, I'd go for the UV Dacron and have a zippered sleeve made to fit outside that, of Sunbrella. Best of both worlds. The downside is additional cost, a little more time setting the boat up and putting it away, and some noise from the sleeve flapping if you don't have diagonal wraps running down it. That's the way I'll go next time.
Another Consideration
Another consideration to consider is all of the pollution that pours out of the powerplant in Salem. I, recently, replaced my sails with North Sails, and went with the Sunbrella, because even with yearly cleaning, my old genoa with the dacron uv cover looked like crap with all of the coal dust pollution.
Another consideration to consider is all of the pollution that pours out of the powerplant in Salem. I, recently, replaced my sails with North Sails, and went with the Sunbrella, because even with yearly cleaning, my old genoa with the dacron uv cover looked like crap with all of the coal dust pollution.
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