U.V, ???

[searcher]

Hi every one, I have a question that I hope one of you knowlegable sailors can answer for me. The so called UV strip on headsails (sacraficial cloth), is it a special type of cloth or the same as canvas used in biminis and sail covers etc?? I know about the sticky backed stuff but do I realy have to buy some special cloth?? thanks in advance for your assistance guys (and galls)......Paul. S.V.Searcher N.Z.

[Steve Pope]

generally the sailmaker will use sunbrella or some equivalent material. It has better anti UV properties as against using normal sail cloth which will fail earlier.

[Zanshin]

I spent two hours today sewing - the sunbrella material is holding up, but the thread that was used to connect the sacrificial cover to the genoa proper started failing and man, both sail material and sunbrella is pretty solid stuff - all I had was a sailmakers palm and needle/thread and my fingers ache!

[Steve Pope]

often the thread is the weakest point

[Ex-Calif]

We are talking our genoa to a seamstress for this express purpose. Sail is ok, sunbrella is ok, seams are giving up.

Save your palm - Find someone with a zig zag machine and have the seams all run. My guess is, like ours the thread is shot. We found a sunshade maker who will do it.

Not all canvass workers have a zig-zag machine.

[Evan]

One option for roller furling sails IS UV treated Dacron. It's cheaper for the sailmaker, but it is considered sacrificial. 5 years max. It is lighter so the sail sets better in light winds. Sunbrella lasts a lot longer but is heavier and more costly.