I am looking to buy a new main . Being a small masthead boat (21ft.)I am not ,within reason , that concerned about cost however after reading multiple sailmakers sites etc. am pretty confused as to what material and format to ask for. I have yet to speak to a sailmaker.
Initially I thought polyester(dacron) radial ,full battens , loose foot etc. however am now wondering if I am looking backwards and should be going for something more modern in material etc.
Detail
Solo daysailer flattish water. (Broadwater/southern Moreton B)
cruiser/ racer ,not racer / cruiser but always trying for optimum ( gets boring otherwise)
sail left flaked on boom with cover although I take home every three months to wash in fresh water.
I would expect to get four years of sail holding shape .
So any ideas welcome before I speak to sailmaker.
Thanks
Terry

Speak to your sailmaker and get them to show the different types of cloth.

100% - talk to some sailmakers. Ben De Coster at Hood would be a great place to start. One of the advantages of stepping up to a carbon laminated cloth like Dimension Polyant GPL is that the sail will keep its shape much longer so if you plan to keep the boat for another 5-10 years it's worth considering. Lighter cloth is also easier to handle and if you add something like Lite Skins protection it will be harder to damage the sail.

My thought would be that in the grand scheme of things, the size of a masthead main on a 21'er is tiny, probably smaller than say a 505 main (and higher aspect). How big are we talking here, maybe 22' on the luff and 7' of the foot? Any laminate with a taffeta on even just 1 side will be too heavy of a base cloth.

To get the cloth weight right you'll be looking at cloth built for larger dinghies & skiffs and so a plain film cloth wouldn't have more than 1 mil of film, which is not really designed for putting inside a boom cover for extended times and the associated crumpling & creasing.

There's nothing wrong with Dacron in this size range and you'll more than likely be happier with the longevity you get.

Just my 2c...

Edit: All these numbers are just off the top of my head but can easily be found online.

We've had a no3 jib on the club racing Ross930 for 2 years out of aramid sport as per here - has the lite skins as above. It is still as new albeit we run no 2, 3 and 4 jibs - all hanked and stowed below after each use.

www.dimension-polyant.com/portfolio/aramid-sport/?lang=en

We roll it up after use and put back in the bag, stow it without crushing it flat. Have just ordered a mainsail of the same material it may be a different weight. Will flake it on the boom and secure the ties loosely. It will never be crushed with point or line loads or area loads. Expect 6+ years shape holding life probably 8.

If you care for your sails so meticulously as indicated am sure you will be very pleased with this cloth and its shape holding life. But your sailmaker and you should decide.

Thanks for the feedback . Measurements pretty close Jethrow and interesting 2c. I was thinking I would have to loose flake on the boom which is not too much of a problem.
I will be talking to a couple of local sailmakers and see what they say.

I'm a sailmaker and I would go for a good old cross cut Dacron main which unless you abuse it should last 10 plus years. With the money saved get yourself a nice radial cut heady built with fibrecon pro radial, or a similar radial Dacron. Jethrow is spot on, in this size range to get any advantage by using exotics you will be going very light with decreased service life.

dacron for all purpose use or polyester laminate if you intend to race.
No point with carbon on a 21' yacht, the load is just not there!

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stray said..
I'm a sailmaker and I would go for a good old cross cut Dacron main which unless you abuse it should last 10 plus years. With the money saved get yourself a nice radial cut heady built with fibrecon pro radial, or a similar radial Dacron. Jethrow is spot on, in this size range to get any advantage by using exotics you will be going very light with decreased service life.

Hey stray thanks for info .At 79 I'll be lucky to last ten years . Why leave it all to the kids. The reason I have a small boat is thats about all I can handle solo in a brisk breeze these days.

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Galatea said..
dacron for all purpose use or polyester laminate if you intend to race.
No point with carbon on a 21' yacht, the load is just not there!

Thanks Galatea , Today has been very informative re these new cloths. A crosscut polyester laminate ,full battens to prevent flogging ?

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Bananabender said..

Galatea said..
dacron for all purpose use or polyester laminate if you intend to race.
No point with carbon on a 21' yacht, the load is just not there!

Thanks Galatea , Today has been very informative re these new cloths. A crosscut polyester laminate ,full battens to prevent flogging ?

Yes Dimension Polyant Flex Poly 4.3oz with full battens would be nice or a PXB Tri-radial (sexy and black)
Particularly if you don't intend to reef very often, If you sail regularly with a reef in (24-40% of the time or more) go for Dacron as it will age the Laminate quickly.

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Galatea said..

Bananabender said..

Galatea said..
dacron for all purpose use or polyester laminate if you intend to race.
No point with carbon on a 21' yacht, the load is just not there!

Thanks Galatea , Today has been very informative re these new cloths. A crosscut polyester laminate ,full battens to prevent flogging ?

Yes Dimension Polyant Flex Poly 4.3oz with full battens would be nice or a PXB Tri-radial (sexy and black)
Particularly if you don't intend cto reef very often, If you sail regularly with a reef in (24-40% of the time or more) go for Dacron as it will age the Laminate quickly.

I'll have to give the incidence of reefing a bit of thought ,perhaps 15-20% . When I do I only use the first reef and don't use the sail belly ties. Anything stronger I drop the main . Might be my failing memory but the pm breezes up here seem to be more prevalent and stronger than PP or Corio.

Just to update. After rereading above a few times and talking to my sailmaker about what I expect and where I sail I have initially ordered a no.3 radial laminate dimension px 15 . After trying it out I will go for a radial main same or dacron. My dacron genoa is still like new . Thanks for input .