Sail life, Bill Colombo

[Ray McC arthy]

Bill, I own a Beneteau 321 which we purchased new in Oct, 1997. We put the boat up for charter last year. The first person that chartered the boat dropped the main halyard, furled main, and as a result ripped the sail. The charter company had the sail repaired by inserting a 1 foot piece 3/4 of the way down the sail across the entire sail. In the fall the sail ripped again close to the same place but not in the exact location. Question: How long should a sail last? If I have the sail repaired are the chances great that it will just rip again ( I know this is had to answer because you can't see the sail).

 

[Bill Colombo]

Sail Lifespan

Ray,If your sail is made out of high quality cruising dacron it should provide good service for quite a long time. Usually I tell people that this period is 8-12 years although I have seen plenty of sails that have last much longer than that. Having said this, sails are much like tires on a car. They only have so many miles in them and much depends on what kind of miles these are. Charter boats tend to need sail replacement sooner that other boats. These boats usualy see more miles per year and they can be pretty rough ones as well. Many people that charter boats have boats of their own and are good sailors but some are not and can be a bit hard on the sails. Also where they go with the boat can have an adverse effect, especially if they are sailing in more open blue water venues. We usually build sails for charter boats extra heavy-duty. A well done repair should not weaken the sail at all in fact it often is stronger than before. Charter fees generally are designed to cover maintenance costs as well as inevitable sail replacement.Thanks,Bill C.Doyle Sails