sailcloth weight question

Bosman

.
Oct 24, 2010
346
Solina 27 Wabamun, Alberta
Hopefully I am posting this in the right place.

This might be an awkward questions, but coming from a metric land where 1 metre is 1 metre, I'd like to clear some confusion I am experiencing:

Is sailcloth weight quoted from US based loft based on the English square yard (36" x 36") or the the traditional sailmakers' yard (36" x 28½")?

Looking at example, 5oz sail could be either 170g/m2 (english) or 214g/m2 (sailmakers'), which is quite a difference. Which one is it?
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
Is sailcloth weight quoted from US based loft based on the English square yard (36" x 36") or the the traditional sailmakers' yard (36" x 28½")?...
The Sailrite book says it is 36 x 28.5 inches. Go figure. No, i mean, really.
 

Rick D

.
Jun 14, 2008
7,132
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
OK, Bosman, I Nominate You For 2013...

...question of the year!
any more nominations? :D


 

Bosman

.
Oct 24, 2010
346
Solina 27 Wabamun, Alberta
Thanks for the info Ron20324.

Note sure if you are trying to be funny, Rick D, or not, but considering that it was only on the UK Sailmakers website that actually answered the question, my question was very much legit.

Source: http://www.uksailmakers.com/Resources/Sail-Cloth.html
The unit of weight in the United States is ounces per "sailmaker's yard," which is 36" by 28.5". The British use ounces per square yard, and Continental Europe uses grams per square meter. Thus 1 oz. American equals 1.26 oz. British and 42.8 grams per square meter.


from Challenger sailcloth maker http://www.challengesailcloth.com/measure.htm Note it does not offer info as to what geographical region uses what units.

[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Sailcloth[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]To Convert[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Into[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Multiply by[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Sailmaker's Ounces[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Ounces per square yard[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]1.263[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Ounces per square yard[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Sailmakers' Ounces[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]0.7917[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Sailmaker's ounces[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Grams per square meter[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]42.83[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Ounces per square yard[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Grams per square meter[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]33.91[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Grams per square meter[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Sailmakers' ounces[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]0.02335[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Grams per square meter[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Ounces per square yard[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]0.002949[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Denier per inch (yarn weight)[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Grams per Square meter[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]0.004734[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Denier per inch (yarn weight)[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Sailmakers' Ounces[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]0.001021[/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, Geneva]General[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]To Convert[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Into[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Multiply by[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Yards[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Meters[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva].9144[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Meters[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Yards[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]1.0936[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Square yards[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Meters[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]0.8361[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Square meters[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]Square yards[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Geneva]1.196[/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, Geneva]Definitions[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]1. The traditional weight of sailcloth in "sailmakers' ounces" is the weight of fabric 28.5" wide by 36" long.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva]2. Denier is a measured yarn weight. It is equal to the weight of 9000 meters of yarn measured in grams.[/FONT]

I did not invent some other really strange units of measure such as long ton, short ton (by no means mix it with the actual tonne) or wonder why the US gallon is only 3.785411784 litres when the UK gallon is 4.54609 litres, not forgetting about the dry gallon equal to 4.40488377086 litres. Luff tape sizes are all metric to start with, and converted into imperial fractions for North America. So, really, instead of awarding some questions of the year, consider that not entire world is using imperial measures. *sighs*
 

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Yeah, well, you could just ask each loft what standard they use when you request a quote.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Funny ...

I thought it was a good question and I also spit my cola all over the keyboard when I read Rick's response ... thanks for that Rick! :D