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Thread: Poly sail.
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3rd February 2015, 09:54 PM #1Member
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Poly sail.
I'm currently fitting a SOT for sailing and intend on making a poly sail. I know everyone hates poly sails, but it will only be a test bed, once I have the right size, shape, plus all the other bits and pieces sorted, I'll be making a dacron sail. My question is how do you stick polytarp together for mast sleeve, etc. Have tried before using different glues, but none worked.
I've previously fitted a 12' and a 16' canadian with sails (cut from old mirror sails) but want to avoid wasting good dacron on mistakes.
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3rd February 2015 09:54 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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4th February 2015, 06:54 PM #2
The usual choice is to use double sided tape. Some put stitches through this, but plenty have only the tape.
Log onto PolySails.com and see what they have to offer, that might be compatible with what's available in your country. Hopefully fellow polyittes will turn up and offer what they found that works. Yeah, poly sails suck, but can be a good tool to change or modify sail plans. Reconsider making your own sail, from you polysail experiments. There's a huge (read monstrous) difference between a well done poly sail and a real, cut by a pro, sewn by the same kind of sail. It's not that the shape will be much different, assuming you've really optimized your poly sail, but it's the build details. Knowing how to build a sail well, so it'll wear uniformly, draws well, has the camber in the correct locations, tip washout/foot tuck optimized to the rig, appropriate rounding, roach, etc. A real sail, cut by a pro, will last a very long time and will retain it's shape across a much longer period. Simply put, there's a lot of hand work in a good sail and the skills to do it well is just worth paying for.
I've built several pol sails to do various things, but only one set of real sails, upon which is proudly learned my lesson about making real homemade sails. The sail maker earns every dime they charge (it's hard work) and if you do elect to sew one up, you'll learn the same lesson. Lastly, there are some lowball outfits offering really cheap custom sails. Be careful what you wish for, because you're likely get just what you paid for. I've delt with a few of these companies and you need to get them very spicific instruction as to how the sail is to be cut, reinforcement types, stitching types and placement, etc., if you want a good sail. This includes spicific instruction as to what material they'll use on your sail. Most of the companies I'm refering to will use a China made fabric that's nothing close to what good sail cloth is actually like. It's cheap (half the price of the good stuff), but it'll set and wear like what you paid for.
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5th February 2015, 04:16 PM #3Member
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Thanks for that, now I know where to start.
Poly sails have their place: I used to race land yachts a few years ago, they were a one design Club 88 the club designed (take off of Class 5). Sails were all poly, they wore well and performed well. In between races, yachts were tipped on their sides with the sail rubbing on the ground (a gravelly limestone). The yachts were capable of 70+kph and used 20mm sheeting working through two triple wheel pulleys to flatten the sail at speed. Never saw a single sail replaced or damaged but saw plenty of masts (unshrouded) bent. In that area they excelled.
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