Hi folks. I recently purchased a used Phantom 7.5 online and was a bit surprised to see that some delamination is occuring in most of the panels. I've gone through a number of older sails where the mylar peeled away from the dacron, but this is the first time I've seen it in a grid/reinforced sail.

Does anyone know what I can expect out of this sail moving forward? For example, will the delamination get much worse or will it stay as it is for some time?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

What year was the sail made? I have Aerotech sails from 2010-2016 years and have not had delamination. It is hard from the pictures to see what you are calling delamination, is it the whitish streaks running across the blue sail panels? X-ply panels are two pieces of plastic glued together, note the use of soap to clean a sail will weaken that glue. I would contact Steve Gottlieb about it at Aerotech, sailaero@aol.com.

The fact that the sail looks brand new makes me wonder if the previous owner cleaned it with soap. I was thinking of using a car soap/wax solution on my Aerotech sails after hearing about using soap to clean sails on this forum, fortunately I contacted Steve because he warned me not to because the soap would weaken the glue that holds the panels together.

Thanks, Sandman. You're correct - it is the whitish streaks in the sail. Below a picture with arrows pointing to those spots.

I appreciate you providing Steve Gottlieb's email address. I'll send him an email shortly.

Edit: I'm not sure of the year. Also, I don't know anything about the history of the sail or how the previous owner treated it. Glad you mentioned the soap aspect. It's interesting you have this model sail from years past and didn't run into this problem.

Mistral101, you are welcome, please post back when you know what the issue is with your Phantom. It looks like it has the same construction as all my Aerotech FreeSpeed sails. The fact that all the delaminations run horizontally makes me wonder about how the sail was stored. I almost bought a used Mauisails sail, but it looked like it had been sitting out in the sun a lot, do not think that is the issue with your sail, but maybe it sat in too hot of a storage compartment for too long?

I heard COVID protocols at shipping terminals are causing the steel shipping containers to sit for 1-2 months outside at the Miami port and heat from the sun was cooking the container contents, causing sails with factory pretensioned battens to warp.

Thanks. I certainly come back and post an update. That's interesting about the storage and heat issue. When I look at the sail now I notice across much of it that the delamination streaks are almost the same distance apart. I'm curious what Mr. Gottlieb/Aerotech have to say.

It does look like the sail was pressed down on while rolled up.

Thanks, Manuel.

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Manuel7 said..
It does look like the sail was pressed down on while rolled up.

yeah, those delams look like they are spaced the width of a tightly rolled up sail that was pressed flat.

But none on the upper technora panels, or the clear panels, Steve may know why.

If it turns out to be storage related and cosmetic, the good news is it is on the leech panels which are not loaded as much with wind.

Thanks, Sandman. I heard back from Steve and he also said it looks like something occurred when it was rolled. Fortunately, the seller is going to take the sail back and provide me with a refund.

Lessons learned, I guess. This is a good example that shows the importance of posting good, closeup pictures when listing something for sale.

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Mistral101 said..
Thanks, Sandman. I heard back from Steve and he also said it looks like something occurred when it was rolled. Fortunately, the seller is going to take the sail back and provide me with a refund.

Lessons learned, I guess. This is a good example that shows the importance of posting good, closeup pictures when listing something for sale.

Good to hear Steve got back to you quickly, that is another reason I have stayed with Aerotech sails, great support!

And glad you can send-it back for a refund (just make sure you insure it for the cost). I went to look at a sail advertised on craigslist locally, in the picture in the add the sail looked brand new, but in person it was beat up and the clear panels were heavily scratched. So he either took a picture of the sail new and saved it, or he wet the sail down to hide the scratches, buyer beware!

Thanks. I'll be sure to have it insured when I ship the sail back.

Hopefully, you didn't have to drive far when you almost bought that Craigslist sail. Thanks for telling this story, though. I plan on being very careful when buying used equipment from now on.