What about Dacron sails?

A lot of Solos have laminate sails these days - often a black stranded plastic or sometimes gold stranded cloth (though I don't think that gold material is made anymore - not sure?). I thought the advantage of these was less stretch than conventional (usually) white Dacron sails, though I have also heard that they are supposed to be lighter weight - I am not sure which is true. One definite advantage of laminate sails is you can see through them, so visibility in a race is better than Dacron.

Dacron sail

Laminate sail

So you won't see any Dacron sails at the front of the Nationals, but talking to club sailors I get the impression that Dacron is not off the agenda. Advantages of Dacron include: cheaper (often by 20%-ish), longer-lasting, easier to read for wind shifts and not being obviously slower than laminate sails. At my own club, the two guys that seem to win most Solo class races have Dacron sails. One has an Edge cross-cut sail and the other a North radial cut.

To update my Sails & Masts spreadsheet (see the menu under the main heading on the home page) I have been writing to some of the sailmakers to find out what sails they offer. So this post is a bit of summary of what you might find if you are looking for a Dacron sail.

Cross-cut or Radial?

The first thing to worry about is the design of the sail. The picture at the top shows a cross-cut Dacron sail with the panels being joined across the width of the sail (the joins are quite faint in this photo). The next picture shows a radial sail:

(yes - tis me!) and you can see that the panels radiate out from the clew of the sail. I believe the idea is that sail cloth stretches more in certain directions than others, so in a radial sail the panels are aligned like this to reduce the amount the sail stretches under load.

But there is no general agreement which is best. This year's Nationals finished 1st radial, 2nd cross-cut, 3rd radial, 4th cross-cut etc. To be fair, some of that is because certain laminate cloths are designed for cross-cut rather than radial. But there is no obvious best approach.

To make it more confusing, there are some sails out there (I am looking at you, Edge and Dynamic) that have designs using both approaches. Here is a Dynamic sail with radial lower panels and cross-cut upper panels:

Anything Else?

It is not just about the panel design. And if you are buying second-hand it is important to understand which sails might work for your Solo and which might not.

Most sailmakers adjust the design according to two factors: sailor weight and type of mast. The two things are linked of course. If you are light weight you want a more bendy mast in order to flatten the sail upwind, so you are likely to get a "flatter" sail (one with less depth or camber - lots of explanation by North Sails here). If you are heavier, you need more power - so you need a "full" sail with a less bendy mast.

So if you buy new, you will be asked about those factors. If buying second-hand it is important to know what mast/weight the sail was designed for. Sometimes there are two shapes eg, sailors over 85kg and those under, but if you are buying a North sail there are 3 different shapes for the laminate sails L-3, P-3 and F-3 (I have not established if "F" is for "full" or "fat" yet).

Luckily most sailmakers are very happy to chat if you are buying a new sail, so it is best to give them a call if you want to understand how your new sail is going to be designed.

As a rule of thumb, the less bendy masts are Selden D+, Selden Cumulus and Superspars M2 and the rest are more bendy.

So Who Does Cross-Cut Dacron Sails?

My research suggests the following list of sailmakers: HD, McNamara, Exe, Rowsell, North and Impact (in no particular order). And remember both Edge and Dynamic do a Dacron sail that is mostly cross-cut but with a radial clew or lower panel.

Notice North are on this list with their C-2 Dacron sail. They used radial designs for years - and still do for laminate sails - so I find it surprising they no longer do a radial Dacron sail.

And Who Does Radial Dacron?

HD again - they do them all. I must ask them why sometime.

The others - in a smaller list than cross-cut - are: Batt, Hyde, P&B and Morgan.

I know one of my fellow sailors at my club thinks his North radial Dacron sail is great, so he might be surprised to read this 😉

What Do Dacron Sails Cost Then?

I said Dacron sails are a bit less expensive, so what do they cost? Here is what I have found out so far (lowest to highest) - bear in mind prices can change all the time:

Below £600

Edge

£600 - £700

Morgan

Possibly Rowsell still checking though.

£700 - £800

Hyde, McNamara, Batt, Impact, Exe

Over £800

HD, P&B, North