Always sail in saltwater with sandy beach or sandy grass area, so I always rinse with freshwater and then hang to dry in my garage. Have a J-screw in the ceiling on one end that I hook the grab strap by the sail foot on, then have a loop of 1.9 mm rope going through the head cap and tie that to a rope on the other end of the garage. Even after rinsing with a hose nozzel set on "jet" there will still be sand in some places.

Select to expand quote

GasHazard said..
I don't think salt is hard enough to scratch sails, not that I've tested it.

Take some sea salt and rub on your sail, it will scratch it.

Select to expand quote

segler said..
Yeah, we are weird over here. Fahrenheit, inches, feet, miles, pounds. 1/4-20 screw threads, and we spell aluminum without the second i.

At lease we went metric for sail sizes. I haven't seen a sail listed by square feet in many years.

However, there is a reason why mast lengths come in 340, 370, 400, 430, 460, 490, 520, and 550 cm sizes. Each of those gaps is one foot.

LOL

Yep, but you also have 3/2 (mm) wetsuits.

The mast thing is probably related, but, as you know, 30cm not exactly the imperial foot. .

12ft = 365.76cm
13ft = 396.24cm
14ft = 326.72cm
15ft = 457.2cm
16ft = 487.68cm
17ft = 518.16cm

Close......... I would think it likely that the Euro mast manufacturers thought 'thats close enough if we round it up to a round figure'.

Select to expand quote

MarkSSC said..
If you want to make your sails shiny again then try some Vuplex. Normally,........................

Great tip! Thanks, I am going to try it.

I noticed that brand new monofilm sails often seem to be somewhat hydrophobic for the first few uses. Water tends to bead and run off readily. But that seems to wear off pretty quickly. It could be some sort of residual release agent from the film manufacture?

I have often wondered if there is a practical product to treat monofilm sails to make them more permanently hydrophobic. This sounds like it certainly worth a try. And if that can 'fill' the micro scratches and make them look clearer again, that would be a huge plus. Thanks again.

BCF and Bunning apparently stock it.

MarkSSC mentioned VuPlex which I never heard of. I watched the video below and thought it was impressive. Late this season I bought a new 9.0m sail and it arrived with many scratches. I was surprised they did not tape protective tissue over the windows to reduce the chance of damage during shipping. To return it, shipping would have been very expensive and this was the last sail of this size in their inventory. When I contacted the company they decided to knock off about 10% of the price but they also seemed to indicate that I was looking for perfection.

I compared this sail side by side with my 2 and 3 year old sails and the transparent film of the old sails is much clearer than my new sail due to the scratches. I'm thinking I should try VuPlex. I know it may not repair all the scratches but if it makes even a 25% improvement I will be happy. Due to boat traffic I really need good visibility for safety.

MarkSSC mentioned VuPlex which I never heard of. I watched the video below and thought it was impressive. Late this season I bought a new 9.0m sail and it arrived with many scratches. I was surprised they did not tape protective tissue over the windows to reduce the chance of damage during shipping. To return it, shipping would have been very expensive and this was the last sail of this size in their inventory. When I contacted the company they decided to knock off about 10% of the price but they also seemed to indicate that I was looking for perfection.

I compared this sail side by side with my 2 and 3 year old sails and the transparent film of the old sails is much clearer than my new sail due to the scratches. I'm thinking I should try VuPlex. I know it may not repair all the scratches but if it makes even a 25% improvement I will be happy. Due to boat traffic I really need good visibility for safety.

Select to expand quote

Mark _australia said..
^^ Yes and the pure Dacron ones are better.

In fact, when professionals used them they were better sailors than we can sail so really, triangle dacron is capable of 50kn and is just as good as the new stuff

Monofilms vary a bit in their plasticity or flexibility. Some 'crinkle' and crease worse that others. Experience has shown that some monofilms are more suseptible to UV damage in the form of increased brittleness. I know at least some sailmakers have gone to some lengths in the past to find more 'supple' grades of monofilm, and also find more UV resistant grades. I can remember certain brands and models that were particularly vulnerable and some that seemed very much less so. (Over multiple different brands I hasten to add - I think most, if not all windsurfing sailmakers have had this issue to a greater or lesser degree at some time).

Dacron (a brand/trade name) is a woven form Polyester thread and typical of 'sailcloths). 'Mylar'/Monofilm materials are the same base material cast into a film. Weaving the thread into cloth makes the material a lot more supple, but also makes it a lot more stretchy diagonal to the thread orientation. The great advantage of Monofilm is resistance to directional stretch (it is equally stretch resistant in all directions). This is why it makes such a great sailmaking material, especially in sails with high tension and stresses in multiple directions. It is entirely possible to make race and slalom sails with woven cloth, but to get similar stretch resistance it requires a great deal more panels and stitched seams to orient the fibres with the loads. This is expensive in time and labour, and tends to be signicicantly heavier.

Of course, for low tension, low stress sails, woven cloth may be fine, it can have advantages where some flexibility and suppleness is desired, and it has some other advantages as this discussion highlights. But I don't think cloth sails are 'better' overall, than sails made with good Monofilm. Well designed and made Monofilm sails will hold their design shape considerably longer under stress than cloth sails, and hold a significantly more stable shape with far less cost and weight.

Very expensive in US, $49 for 13 oz, similar product called Plexus cost $24 for 13 oz, leaves a thin layer of wax that fills in scratches.

Select to expand quote

Sandman1221 said..
Very expensive in US, $49 for 13 oz, similar product called Plexus cost $24 for 13 oz, leaves a thin layer of wax that fills in scratches.

Hmmm, as with many things, for no particular obviously logical reason, it seems to be the opposite in Australia.
VuPlex in Bunninga - 375g for $21.40

Plexus in MXstore - 198g for $34.95

Go figure.....

I'm going to Bunnings tomorrow.

I've been washing my sails in freshwater for over 20 years, but ensuring I hang them til they dry before rolling them up. I've had decades out of any of my sails before they die. I'm pretty sure the fresh rinse helps prevent the salt water rotting or deteriorating the cloth/stitching of the sail, but it's purely anecdotal. And they get stored out of the sun.

Got a bottle of Vuplex from Bunnings.

Ill try it over the weekend and report how it goes.

Select to expand quote

Madge said..

sailquik said..

LeeD said..
Mid August here at Berkeley Ca., 90% of wind users wear 4/3 full sealed wetsuits.
Average air temp 64, water temp 60.

Holy crap thats HOT!! Like, world record HOT!!

40 degrees is a very hot day here in summer! Absolutely no wetsuits needed!

Thats because he's American, he talks in pounds too.........they are a bit weird over there.

Americans who haven't travelled don't realize how retarded America is.

How about hard water deposits? I have sailed exclusively in fresh water lakes for years (Great Lakes and Ohio reservoirs). My monofilm sails last for years, but they seem to collect hard water stains that greatly reduce visibility. I tried a little vinegar on a spot but it didn't do much.

Select to expand quote

marc5 said..
How about hard water deposits? I have sailed exclusively in fresh water lakes for years (Great Lakes and Ohio reservoirs). My monofilm sails last for years, but they seem to collect hard water stains that greatly reduce visibility. I tried a little vinegar on a spot but it didn't do much.

What are 'Hard water deposits'? I assume it is minerals that were disolved in the water? How does it manifest? White opaqueness? Anything like that should clean off with that Vuplex stuff.

I tried the Vuplex today on a well scuffed and clouded 2018 5.4m KA Koncept. This one travelled many thousands of KM in '18-'19, rattling along in my trailer, and doing a lot of hours on the very saline Lake George, so it is a worthy trial sail.

First i did the main boom level panel on both sides. I hung it up to try to compare that panel with the one below, but it was hard to get a good view while holding it. I asked my wife to come and have a look and tell me if there was any difference in the two panels. She was immediatly adamant that it was a Huge difference!

OK, so I did the rest of the clear panels and hung it up to inspect.

It's is most definitly clearer than before. But the serious scuffing, for instance where the sail rubs on my outhaul attachment on the boom, are still quite visible. They may be a bit better but it's hard to tell. But the overall clarity of the panels is definitly a big improvement.

I am due to recieve some brand new sails very soon, so I will treat then with this to see if they shed water better and stay clean for longer.

Oh, and I tried it on Motorcycle helmet visor and it come up like brand new. Just that made it worth the $$.

It's hard to tell from pictures and I dont have 'before' examples, but for what it's worth, this is the after:

Bad scuffing spots still very evident but may be slightly better.

The clear panels definitly came up cleaner and clearer

There is a lot of time consuming sail care going on here . I just roll mine up and put it in the bag . Wet or dry , with or without sand . They still love me in the morning . I've even heard the chlorine and fluoride in tap water can be worse than salt water .

There is a lot of time consuming sail care going on here . I just roll mine up and put it in the bag . Wet or dry , with or without sand . They still love me in the morning . I've even heard the chlorine and fluoride in tap water can be worse than salt water .

Select to expand quote

sailquik said..
I tried the Vuplex today on a well scuffed and clouded 2018 5.4m KA Koncept.

That's all very nice Daffy, but you have forgotten the most important test. Is a sail treated with Vuplex faster?

^ Definitely slipperier to hold! I Use Vuplex on boat windscreens n clears n even painted surfaces where no walking involved. Water, dust n everything sheds off very easily.

Our fresh lake water contains a lot of minerals and clay, sails dull very quick if not washed down after sailing, I use wash and wax and hang sail to dry always come up nice and shiney, been doing this since they built the ark.

Select to expand quote

choco said..
Our fresh lake water contains a lot of minerals and clay, sails dull very quick if not washed down after sailing, I use wash and wax and hang sail to dry always come up nice and shiney, been doing this since they built the ark.

Ohhh! It was YOU who was Noah's sailmaster!

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..
That's all very nice Daffy, but you have forgotten the most important test. Is a sail treated with Vuplex faster?

Well, we will find out. I have a good feeling about it.

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..

sailquik said..
I tried the Vuplex today on a well scuffed and clouded 2018 5.4m KA Koncept.

That's all very nice Daffy, but you have forgotten the most important test. Is a sail treated with Vuplex faster?

Technically, if the surface drag is reduced then perhaps it will be more 'slippery' through the air. Some of the smaller skiffs sailing on Sydney harbour used to spray Mister Sheen on their hull to reduce drag. The silicone did its work!.
The important thing about Vuplex is that does not damage the sail. It was recommended to me the guy who made a canopy for my boat. The Vuplex would clean all the salt off the clear plastic windows without harming the material. A lot of products eventually cause discolouration or crazing.