New Sails

[CAELESTIS]

Totem, sent you a PM.

[Lonnie]

Ok, I am considering the Challenge 8.8 oz., high mass fiber weave that is suppose to hold up well against the UV rays in the Tropics while spending time in Asia the next few years on board my ketch.

Does anyone have any real life experience with this sail cloth? I noticed it was recommended in a couple of sailing magazine that had articles relating to choices we have concerning sail cloth when purchasing new sails.

Also, does anyone have any input concerning the Challenge Warp sail cloth that have also been mentioned in a couple of different articles?

Thanks for all help, so far, in deciding what to go with.

Lonnie

[CAELESTIS]

I have a staysail made of Challenge . . .bulletproof. Challenge or Contender, you cannot go wrong. Challenge makes high mod for high aspect sails, or Marblehead for lower aspect.

[svTOTEM]

Challenge High Mass Fiber cloth is better against UV, but does have higher stretch than Marblehead - everything is a tradeoff. A few years in SE Asia will not cause any significant UV issues with any good, low aspect Dacron as long a you cover sails when not in use.


Warp oriented Dacron: Challenge has been working on / improving it for 25 years. I used to run tensile tests on it and the number always come up low. There is a fundamental problem which is getting enough warp yarn density, with low crimp, to make cloth strength appropriate for weight. So it ends up with stretch. This can be improved with resin, but makes it a poor choice for cruising sails. Using it in radial construction does reduce bias stretch (over crosscut sails), but I haven't found that benefit great enough to overcome it's inherent strechiness. So in short, it's fine for smaller, economy radial sails, but otherwise I'd give it a miss.


Lastly, high aspect Dacron - meaning fiber density greatly slanted into fill direction and reduced in warp direction - does make high aspect sails lower stretch BUT has a serious UV problem. The small warp yarns suffer UV in 2 to 4 years (in tropics) - despite the stretch benefit, this cloth is a poor choice for any tropics bound boat unless you count on replacing sails often. And to be clear, most different lines of Dacron, irregardless of who made it, come in high aspect and low aspect. So it's a choice.

[Kestrahl]

Originally Posted by Lonnie

Ok, I am considering the Challenge 8.8 oz., high mass fiber weave that is suppose to hold up well against the UV rays in the Tropics while spending time in Asia the next few years on board my ketch.

Does anyone have any real life experience with this sail cloth? I noticed it was recommended in a couple of sailing magazine that had articles relating to choices we have concerning sail cloth when purchasing new sails.

Also, does anyone have any input concerning the Challenge Warp sail cloth that have also been mentioned in a couple of different articles?

Thanks for all help, so far, in deciding what to go with.

Lonnie

Challenge High Mass Fiber and PC are the cheapest dacron's available per yard from the four major sailcloth companies. Add to that a buy bulk discount and that is the reason why most of the low cost sail retailers use it. Challenge Marblehead for example is almost double the price per yard compared HMF and some of the dimension polyant or bainbridge dacron is even more. You just have to look at the yarn density and the amount of resin in the cloth to see the difference. Personally I don't use it but from what I have seen from other sails that have come in for repair it varies a lot in quality. Have seen examples of very bad to okay. It would probably be okay for a weekend sailor but wouldn't recommend it for serious cruising unless your on a tight budget.