Thoughts on mainsail printing

[Sunrise sailor]

Hi All, just bought my first boat and it needs a new mainsail. This boat is for cruising only - no racing.

What's regarded as best practice in respect of numbers/letters on a cruiser's main?

It currently has the Hunter logo and 42 on it, but I wondered whether I should leave it all blank, keep the existing but add the hull number, or put the word 'Mainsail' on it, to avoid confusion

Or does nobody actually give a monkey's what's on the main?

Thanks - Steve

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, Sunrise.

Do you want to advertise Hunter boats? It's your sail, a floating billboard, and you may put whatever you want on it, or nothing at all. I can't help but fantasize a few possibilities...

[LittleWing77]

If your boat is for cruising, what's on the main doesn't really matter.

Sail numbers are used by race committees to accurately identify the finishers as they cross the line.

Other than that, it might help the coast guard identify you if you were offshore in distress - assuming your full mainsail were still up....

That's all I can think of... anyone else?
LittleWing77 :grin:

[tkeithlu]

Here's a link to the sailcloth listings on Sailrite. I notice that the cost of colored cloth is 30% more than boring white, but the cloth is only part of the cost of the sail. Hmmmm. While spinnakers are the most common site for self-expression in sail design, there's no reason that you must have a white mainsail. Enjoy yourself.

https://www.sailrite.com/Fabrics/Mar...waAsqcEALw_wcB

[bad.wabbit]

Dacron can be painted with water based acrylic house paint, gloss, thinned... You want it to absorb into the cloth and fibers but not build up a layer. The blue wave on the main is painted. It will outlast the useful life of the sail.

[redhead]

Best graphic I've seen was an old fashioned WWII era pin-up girl fixing her stockings on a spinnaker. Our neighbors have an orange and yellow wave on their main that matches the paint job on their cat.

Although I'm usually more of the conservative "yachtie" persuasion, both of these sails make me smile.

[Calif.Ted]

No imagination I guess but I usually go with hull number and the builders logo, here's my new main. Also acts as identification, not a bad idea in a white boat with white sails. And even a cruiser can't resist rubbing it in a little if passing a boat with more LWL.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by Sunrise sailor

Hi All, just bought my first boat and it needs a new mainsail. This boat is for cruising only - no racing.

What's regarded as best practice in respect of numbers/letters on a cruiser's main?

It currently has the Hunter logo and 42 on it, but I wondered whether I should leave it all blank, keep the existing but add the hull number, or put the word 'Mainsail' on it, to avoid confusion

Or does nobody actually give a monkey's what's on the main?

Thanks - Steve

As a cruiser you may wish to retain the class identification. Other Hunter owners will recognize you as you enter harbor and may wish to strike up a conversation. It’s a simple way to meet other owners or anyone who has a similar 42 footer to compare performance or features.

[Discovery 15797]

If you are planning to, or ever think you might participate in 'beer can' races, or regattas then I would recommend adding sail numbers. You can choose any number you want.

I wouldn't spend money on adding anything else.

[wingssail]

For racing sail numbers are usually required for identification.

Offical numbers are provided by national associations, such as US Sailing.

Our sails have "US 8986" on them.

I don't know of anyone, (but I am sure there some) who put the registration number on their sails.

The last mainsail I had made for a client had the builders logo (Jeanneau) added at the owner's request.

My neighbor has a large advertisement for his chocolate company on his new main.

[FabioC]

I have custom graphics on spinnakers and main, but if you want to have it done well and be durable, it rapidly gets very expensive, and the cost increases exponentially with the size of the graphics.
The result can be very cool, but the cost may not be rationally justifiable. Still, I see many boats with cool graphics on their sails out there, so it is not always rational...

[canyonbat]

Any combo of logo or numbers are fine. “Mainsail”, not so much. Your sailbag will have a tag on it identifying the sail that is in the bag. If they are all out oof the bag, the mainsail is easily identified.

[flightlead404]

The nekkid ladie mudflap gurl

[teaden]

We had out logo put on our sail so that it matches the yacht and are very chuffed with how it came out. You can have a look at the finished product on our video
https://youtu.be/ZqLBbp4vAMM

[Spot]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

The nekkid ladie mudflap gurl

A buddy put some 'mudflap' chromed silhouettes of a balding overweight male on the rear flaps of their RV/toy hauler. They actually looked quite a bit like him. He and his wife and I too thought it was hilarious.

SV Delos has a huge Buddha on one of their sails. MJ Sailing had some stylized element badges that go with their old boat's name.

On smaller boats I like colored sails especially sails that have white alternating with colored panels. I hope to get a bright chute on my own boat someday.

I could see having small labels on the corners of the sail to say head, tack, clew. I would also label the bags but not the sails themselves.