Laminated vs Dacron Sails

When you are in the market for new sails, the number of available options might seem overwhelming! You will quickly be flooded with options like:

Dacron
Laminate
Taffeta Coating
Technora
Aramid
Tri Radial
Cross Cut
Carbon
ect.

To make these options make more sense, lets break it down into two camps:

Laminated Sails (Membrane)

Membrane sails are made by laminating various layers together to form the sail. These sails are not cut into pieces because the are made in one piece. The choices fall into what the layers are made of.

Dacron Sails (Cloth)

Cloth sails are made of polyester fibers that are woven into panels of cloth. These panels are then cut in various shapes: Cross Cut or Tri Radial

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Dacron sails will last for many years, but they will only hold their proper shape for a few years, then the begin to stretch out and become baggy. The panels are the weak point, the larger the panel, the more profound the stretching will be. 

Cross Cut Sail

Tri-Radial Cut Sail

Cross cut sails have large horizontal panels that will stretch rather quickly. The alternative is to have the panels cut into many smaller panels arranged in a way that they will help distribute the forces, prolonging its life of ideal sail shape.

This method is called Tri Radial cut sails. These sails are easy to distinguish from Cross Cut sails because Cross Cut look like rectangles stacked on top of each other. Tri Radial cut sails look like origami that has been unfolded.

It is not uncommon to see really old dacron sails (over 20 years old) because they hold together for a long time. They are rather resistant to chafe and any holes can be easily patched. Just be sure to examine your sails and replace them when they begin to sag in the wind like large burlap bags.

Another feature of dacron sails is they can be easily modified. If you decide you need an extra reef point, a sailmaker can easily sew one in for you without too much effort. This makes afterthought modifications possible, relieving some of the stress during the design process of the sail. If you are not sure that you will need a third reef, you can always add it later if you find that you did!

Dacron sails are also available in a selection of colors, the most common is white. Tanbark is a less common but still readily available color of dacron. Some specialty sailmakers offer dacron sails in a multitude of colors, but these locations are hard to find.

The alternative to Dacron is Laminated Sails. These sails are made by laminating various membranes and layers together to form a sail comprised of a single piece. There are no panels involved in the construction. Instead, fibers are run along the stressed load lines of the sail to evenly distribute the forces placed on them. These sails will never stretch until the day that they die, which is anywhere from 2 to 7 years (depending on how it is designed). While this might sound like a short lifespan, it is not!

Compare a laminated sail that lasts for 5 years to a dacron sails that lives for over 20 years. It might seem like a short life, but the dacron sail only held its shape for a few years and then began to stretch. The laminated sail held its shape perfectly for the whole 5 years, 2.5x the life of the dacron sail before it stretched! 

Where dacron sails stretch out, laminated sails die in an explosive display. The laminates will separate in a process known as delamination which spells the end for the sail. A repair can be attempted, but it is the end for the sail. 

Laminated sails also offer greatly reduced weight over dacron sails, which translates into reduced weight aloft. Racing sails offer the greatest weight savings, but also last the shortest amount of time. These are the sails that seem see through from a distance because they are purely milar and fibers. The fibers are what give these sails their colors. 

Black fibers are from Carbon and Technora
Gold fibers are from Aramid
Tan fibers are from Vectran
White fibers are from Polyester

These see through racing sails will last between 2 to 3 years before the delaminate.

Cruising versions of laminated sails last longer by providing the sails with a Taffeta coating. This will extend the life of the sail to 5 to 7 years. Taffeta can be applied on one side for some protection or both sides for maximum protection. Taffeta gives the sail a white look, with the fibers shinning through. From a distance, these look like regular sails until you notice the fiber bands running through the sail.

The reason taffeta helps protect the laminated sails is because it is made of dacron! This coating helps protect the sail from chafe and wear, but it does add considerable weight to the sail. If you decide to go with a laminated sail, I strongly recommend the taffeta coating, it only costs a little extra but it greatly increases the longevity of the sail.

If you are planning a long offshore voyage with laminate sails, I would strongly urge you to carry a spare set of sails in the event that one of the sails dies while offshore. 

The choice ultimately comes down to what suits your needs best? If you are racing, then a stripped down laminated sail is right up your alley. If you are doing coastal cruising or short offshore jaunts, laminated sails with taffeta coating will provide a wonderful service life for you. If you plan on sailing far offshore, bullet proof dacron sails might be your best choice. They won't hold their shape forever, but you will always have a sail to get you home!

What do you call that sail?

Typically, when we decide to raise a sail, I will go forward to the mast and begin pulling the halyard. When the sail begins to fill with air, it will flap like a flag, cyclically loading the rigging with each beat. The solution is for Maddie to sheet the sail in as it is raised and then ease the sheet as I tension the halyard. The whole process goes smoothly as long as we understand each other.

Wisdom has 3 different headsails, a mainsail, and a trisail. This means there are a lot of sheets leading to the cockpit. Thankfully, the halyards stay at the mast and don't add to the spaghetti!

The problem is that I would tell Maddie "I am going to raise the jib, sheet it on the primary winch." She wasn't exactly sure which sheet I was referring to, and usually ended up placing the wrong sheet on the winch. This would lead to a state of confusion because I would raise the sail and she would sheet in the wrong one, causing it to flog around wildly.

Maddie came up with a creative solution to our miscommunication. She gave each sail a name!

The Drifter is Dill
The Jib is Josh
The Staysail is Stanley
The Mainsail is Marge
The Trisail is PJ

The first letters coincide to help me learn their names as well. PJ is the odd one out because we would sleep hove to during storms with him flying, hence, he would act as our boats pajamas.

Instantly, our communication improved, and "I'm going to hoist Stanley first, then Josh, please get them on their winches" became a clear command with no confusion. I would go forward, and she would sheet the staysail onto the secondary winch, and the jib onto the primary winch. 

I still don't know why she couldn't learn the real names of the sails, but the important part is that we were able to find a solution to our problem and to keep us sailing smoothly and calmly.

If you guys find yourself having communication issues, an open mind helps to find a creative solution!

Raising Anchor Under Sail

Anchoring instructions all seem to involve the use of the motor. This is how I do it under sail without the use of the motor.

"Raising the anchor" instructions tend to involve motoring up to the anchor while someone brings in the rode, once the anchor is in the roller, then motor out of the anchorage and then begin sailing.

You don't actually need a motor to raise the anchor on a sailboat. 

Light Airs

If in light airs, raise a double reefed main and then begin raising the anchor with the windlass. The main will keep the boat pointed into the wind while the anchor comes up. 

As the anchor comes up, the bow will be into the wind and the reefed mainsail will stall, keeping the boat relatively in the same place.

Once the anchor is up, quickly raise the staysail to balance the sailplan and begin powering up the yacht.

With the sails up, fall off the wind a bit and begin sailing out of the anchorage. 

Once into clear waters, shake out the reefs and sail away.

In Heavy Airs

If it is blowing rather hard, you will begin drifting as soon as the hook comes off the ground. Make sure you are far enough off the lee shore before you begin raising the anchor. 

If you have a lot of leeway, raise the anchor and then raise the staysail to get the vessel moving through the water. Begin traveling on a broad reach as you then raise the reefed mainsail.

After you get all the sails up and set, then set your course and begin sailing towards your destination.

If you don't have much leeway, it may be best to wait until the winds become more favorable. If you have to raise the hook immediately due to deteriorating weather and have little leeway, you will first raise the anchor immediately followed by the reefed main and staysail. Then set the sails and begin working off the lee shore in a hurry before you find yourself on the lee shore. 

Battens

I have a love hate relationship with my battens. When I bought Wisdom, she came with 20 year old sails. They were stretched and baggy, and in need of being replaced.

The Mainsail was a batten-less sail that had a hollow leech. This sail was roughly 400 square feet. I decided that I should increase the amount of sail area since I was planning on not being able to motor any significant distances. This prompted my decision to switch to a full batten main (522 square feet) with a as large of a roach as possible.

The sail works fine, and the battens help hold the sail out in light airs, giving as much push as we can get out of the sail. In heavy airs, the battens help control sail shape and aid in trimming the sail. They do their job wonderfully!

Everything I love and hate about the new main involves the battens. 

I love:

The added sail area
The way it holds its shape in light airs
The way it holds the sail while reefing

I hate:

When the battens get hooked on the lazy jacks
When the battens get hooked on the shrouds
When the battens get hooked on the flag halyards
When the battens get hooked on the topping lift
When the battens get hooked on the clew reefing lines
When the battens fall before the luff and prop the sail up rather than letting it all fall on the boom
When the battens rub on the shrouds

The old sail was 20+ years old and never had a hole chafed into it. The new sail is only 2 years old and has chafed in 4 areas, all along the batten pockets!

I never worried about the lazy jacks with the old sail either, it went up and it came down; never hooking on anything in the rigging. Now, I have to make sure everything is clear of the sail before raising it because the battens will hook on everything! 

As much as I dislike the headache that the battens bring to sailing, they are certainly a necessary evil. You have to be much more aware of what is around them to avoid getting them hooked on something or chafing in areas. 

I do not regret battens because I knew from the beginning that they would be the cause of all my problems, and I was willing to make that sacrifice for the extra sail area.

How do you guys feel about battens? Do you have them? Would you get them again? Let me know in the comments down below.

Tanbark vs White Sails Part 3

Now we will look at the advantages of tanbark sails!

The advantages of tanbark are:

They are more visible in fog than white sails
They are not blinding to look at during the day
They are easily recognized
They don't show dirt

While tanbark sails are invisible by night, they are very visible during fog and haze during the day. White sails on the contrary will blend right in with the white background of the fog. While I do not suggest setting sail into a misty fog, I have had fog roll in on me while out in the bay. I was sailing blind, focusing on the chart plotter to make sure I was outside of the channel and far from any obstacle. The dark sails show up as high contrast and a tall beacon in fog, especially when topped with a masthead strobe light to maximize the chances of someone else seeing me in the fog to avoid a collision.

As stated before, the sails will not glow a blinding white that burns into your eyes. They sun makes them glisten a deep red on a background of deep burgundy. They are rather awesome sight to behold.

Another advantage is how easily recognizable they make the boat. When we were sailing under the Annapolis Bay Bridge, one of my friends happened to be driving over it and in the sea of sailboats down there was able to spot us. He gave me a call to make sure it was me and sure enough, we were going under the bridge at that moment. I doubt that would have happened if we had white sails just like every other sailboat.

The biggest advantage came into play with the radio communications. We would frequently heard large ships hailing a sailboat asking them to move and it always seemed that the sailboat in the way never thought they were hailing him.

"White sailboat with white sails, please move from the channel"
or
"White sailboat with white sails, you are entering a restricted area"

The captain probably thought the ship was hailing someone else and wouldn't respond. When he would respond much later, you could hear all sorts of bickering happening since quarters were closer. Time was more restricted and corrections had to be amplified since valuable time had been wasted.

When we would be hailed, we knew it:

"White sailboat with maroon sails" 
or
"White sailboat with dark sails"

We would quickly respond and figure out what we each needed to do with miles of leeway, rather than a nail biting encounter.

Lastly, the sails don't show dirt! They are dark and any dirt that collects on them blends in with the color of the canvas. We even bathed our dog, Morty, in our jib. We had taken him to shore to do his business and let him run around. Being a corgi, all the mud that he kicked up while running covered his white belly turning it to a muddy tan. I didn't want the runoff going all over the deck, so I placed him in the sail and had the leech lay over the side of the boat so as I washed him, the runoff would go overboard rather than staying on deck and being tracked into the cabin. Never once did we worry about dirtying the fabric!

My old white sails had dirt bands from dirty water staining them when flaked, creating a stripped look to them. If they laid against the muddy anchor chain, they would become stained as it dried. It was a constant headache trying to keep the sails looking halfway decent. There is a reason power boaters call sails "rags". 

On an unrelated to actual sail properties note, tanbark sails is more common on cruiser boats. When you pull into a harbor flying tanbark, it's almost like flying a giant billboard telling everyone that you're a serious sailor.  

The ultimate decision comes down to your preferences. What fits your budget, desires, and plans. I wanted tanbark sails because I think they are pretty. All the other points have been bonuses, but they were not a priority for me. I am very happy with them and love how they look, hide dirt, and are easy to look at; but in the end, it is your boat and your choice. 

Which sails do you prefer? Let me know in the comments section and don't forget to subscribe down below.