AN IDIOT'S GUIDE
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ou’ve just bought a new-to-you boat. Or maybe your genoa or main have given up the ghost. In any event you need a new sail — maybe even two. If you feel intimidated about such a pur¬ chase, you’ve got a right. Ten years ago buy¬
family sailor who enjoys weekends on the Bay, summer trips to the Delta and beer can races, you might feel like an idiot when it
that dacron Levi’s never become a fashion statement. Judging from all the ‘plastic’ sails seen on hot boats today, the average sailor might assume that, as with cotton, dacron’s day is done. That’s a complete misconception, probably the biggest one the average sailor has about sails.
D acron was a great sailmaking material ten years ago. And while dacron thread is little changed over the years, thanks to improved weaves and finishes, as well as improved methods of incorporating them in¬ to sails, Dacron sails are now better than ever. According to a local manager of one of the biggest international lofts, today’s good
It’s no longer one cloth fits all; custom cloth tailor¬ ing is the order of the day.
ing sails seemed — and was — relatively simple. White and made of dacron, sails looked pretty much alike. Except for the dif¬ ferent weights of cloth used, they were very much the same. As most mariners know, it’s a whole new ballgame in the world of sailmaking. The sails we see on grand prix boats in the magazines or in person are wild combina¬ tions of synthetic textiles and films. They come in brown, tan, blue, violet, semi-
. . . Feel like an idiot when it comes to selecting new sails . . . ____ transparent and combinations of each. And it’s not just the fabrics that are different; the patterns on them would do justice to Mondrian and Picasso, if not Dali. Knowing that competitive racers buy only the best, should the family sailor invest in such hi-tech sails? Is dacron an out-dated sail material for cruisers and losers? If you’re a
comes to selecting new sails. If so, this guide is for you. It seems — particularly in the l$st few years — that headsails and mains have been made out of a million different materials. In actuality, it’s nowhere near that complicated. In the beginning man had no choice but to use natural fibers, primarily cotton, for mak¬ ing saiis. Although cotton was the sail material that powered the great clipper ships around the Horn and all the outstanding rac¬ ing yachts of the first half of the 20th century, it rather suddenly disappeared from sail lofts in the 50’s. One night in a bar an old sailmaker explained the abrupt change; the sudden popularity of white Levi’s had depleted the cotton stock so none remained for sailmakers. Fortunately, a couple of lab rats at DuPont just happened to be getting around to developing that miracle of the 20th century, a polymerized product of an alcohol and organic-acid reaction best known as polyester. DuPont’s trade-name for the wonder product was — and remains — Dacron, in honor of the great city in Ohio. The advantages of dacron over cotton for sails is complete; it is stronger for the weight, it doesn’t stretch as much, it’s much slower to rot, and poorly paid people don’t have to pick the raw material out of some dusty field in Mississippi. By the end of the 50’s, cotton clothes were still the rage, but cotton sails were history. Let’s keep our fingers crossed
