So this is the start of the inaugural RPAYC Pittwater to Shellharbour race yesterday. All white spinnakers.

Until about 3 years ago due to divorce, no yacht and other issues I didn't follow things for quite a while. When did this boring change take place?

I'll take my new sail any day. As far as I'm concerned it is and always will be part of the joy of downwind sailing.

Not disagreeing with you, but probably got a bit to do with extra time, money and space involved in production. Not to mention extra cost if one blows out, replacing different coloured panels is generally harder than plain white.

When you're racing a brightly coloured spinnaker means you stand out in the fleet, everyone knows exactly where you are. Much easier being hidden in the pack when you want to be sneak past your buddy .

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shaggybaxter said..
When you're racing a brightly coloured spinnaker means you stand out in the fleet, everyone knows exactly where you are. Much easier being hidden in the pack when you want to be sneak past your buddy .

Oh well I guess I enjoy being an extrovert. Not that I race - well at least not officially

Not sky blue. Hard to trim.

I wont be able to hide in a fleet.

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cammd said..
I wont be able to hide in a fleet.

That looks great. Sail Exchange did me a bit of a favour by not charging me their extra 10% for custom design but said three colours so I didn't want to push it. They said the reason why they sell white is that they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee and don't want to be stuck with some odd colour scheme.

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shaggybaxter said..
When you're racing a brightly coloured spinnaker means you stand out in the fleet, everyone knows exactly where you are. Much easier being hidden in the pack when you want to be sneak past your buddy .

Thats Cheating! Its as bad as turning nav. lights off in an overnighter.

My own theory is bow people have got more stupid and can only recognise things way:
White equals light air VMG (1.2 oz)
Red equals medium air runner (0.6 oz)
Blue equals heavy air reaching (0.9 or 1.5 once)
anything else is too confusing.
Like the picture all 0.5 oz VMG kites

Of course really heavy air kites should be black or dark purple, easier to see the luffs at night and do not look as big in the dark

I saw those 4 come into Shellharbour marina on Saturday evening and wondered where they had come from....
Great sight...
Had brekky at the marina sunday morning and saw them leave with a nice southerly pushing them back up the coast.

Hope they enjoyed their stay.

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lydia said..
My own theory is bow people have got more stupid and can only recognise things way:
White equals light air VMG (1.2 oz)
Red equals medium air runner (0.6 oz)
Blue equals heavy air reaching (0.9 or 1.5 once)
anything else is too confusing.
Like the picture all 0.5 oz VMG kites

Of course really heavy air kites should be black or dark purple, easier to see the luffs at night and do not look as big in the dark

When I bought my current boat the previous owner had every kite the same colour pattern, his thinking being that he didn't want anyone looking back at him catching up and deciding to switch kites based on what he seemed to be running. It was only moderately confusing for a while....

A few reasons spinnakers are often white-
Economy of scale- making jumbo rolls of one colour is more economical than a myriad small rolls of random colours, particularly when you use partial rolls only and some left over colours will sit on shelf for years awaiting a like minded customer to come along.
Performance- when the situation is looking for infinitesimal gains, the white tends to test minutely better. The brighter or darker the cloth, the stretch seems a little worse, although this is often not a factor with most cruisers and low level racing. Plus mixing colours means mixing rolls, most high level racers want a sail all made from the same lot number of cloth! Pick up a multi coloured spinnaker that has been used a bit (and often even when new) and you will notice a difference in the crispiness of the cloths.
The bright fluoro colours I have found to not age well and tear much more easily. Look at this link below (which is great footage) and they talk about America One blowing out 6 Fluor green kites in 23 races whilst the white kites on Luna Rossa are fine in same conditions. I personally have found this as well in my 40+ years of sailmaking.
Google this- link does not seem to want to paste?
2000 Louis Vuitton Cup Final Races 1-6 - YouTube

Could this video be another reason for white Dacron? According to the sailmaker in the video, the dye, especially orange dye, weakens the resin in Dacron sails, causing them to lose shape earlier than plain white sails.

Disclaimer: I am considering whether to get plain or coloured (tan) sails for my new Cygnet 20, which is due in November. The tan colour is more expensive. In discussion with my Minister of Finance, I suggested that tan looked pretty, but white now looked about $550 prettier, especially with a potentially longer life. I'm not sure how much difference it would make on the jib and main on a gaff rig on a small boat, and would appreciate your thoughts.

'Code Zeros' are usually white/ cream