Dacron vs High Tech Sails
I've raced a 'racer-cruiser' Hunter 28.5 for many years, substantially in PHRF and Cruising Division non-spinnaker fleets. The original main and our now 2 year old 'racing cut' dacron main have both been more than adequate at our level. We have always had Mylar and Mylar/dacron 155% and 135% genoas and the original dacron 110% jib and I think the Mylar and Mylar/dacron combinations make for a sail with less stretch, hence you can carry the sail in slightly higher wind ranges where the all dacron sail may start to see some stretching. While your dacron sails are new and as long as you use them in the appropriate wind range, they will not significantly loose their shape and should serve you well for several years. In my opinion, the original equipment Dacron sails on most Hunters (including mine) were price built, but were of heavy enough cloth that we used them effectively many years before we were seeing too much depth in the main, hooked leaches on the main and old genoa, etc. I'd use your NEW Dacron sails until you feel you see a difference in the sail shape and want to upgrade. I added draft stripes, a second reef, a flatening reef cringle and a cunningham cringle to my original equipment main so I could better control it's shape. My new loose footed main is still dacron, but has one full batten and three IOR length battens, plus draft stripes, cunningham and two reef points. Most importantly and I can't stress this enough; our sailmaker measured the mast,the full hoist, mast bend with and with the adjustable backstay 'off' and 'on' so all our sails are specifically designed for this boat and the way I set up the rig. I asked our sailmaker about kevlar and other high tech fabrics and he did not see any advantage for our particular boat and our level of competition. We have won more than our share of the hardware over the years, but the racing bottom, headfoil system, folding prop, boom vang and backstay adjuster all help the boat's performance as well.
