Stavanger, Sunday

Neville, I have made two sails from Odyssey III and found it to be a super-easy material to work with both when lofting and cutting it, and when sewing it. I believe it is strong enough for most jobs (6.5oz). In addition to the 11oz Top Gun, there is also the Topyssey at 8.5oz. It looks very much like the Odyssey, but is just a bit firmer.

I think that Odyssey III would be strong enough for most junk sails, in particular if one avoids making the top panels too big (better make them a bit smaller than the others). The webbing I use for roping is 2" polyester seatbelt webbing. This is strong and stiff enough.

The trick is to let the boltrope, battens and sheetlets be connected in such a way that the sailcloth is not involved. The sailcoth’s only job is to collect the wind. No strengthening patches or metal grommets are needed in any corner as webbing hoops spreads the loads so much better (here and here). Also using batten pockets helps in spreading the load. This method of relying on the boltrope is the original Chinese way as their sailcloth was/is so weak compared to what we use.

I bought both the Odyssey III, the 2" webbing and the T-90 sewing thread from Rochford, USA.

Good luck! Arne

PS: If the sail develops creases, it is not the Odyssey’s fault, but rather the fault of the sailmaker and rigger. If done right, the sail will set all right.

I have used Odyssey III, Mustang and Top Gun all Marchem fabrics. They are all highly UV resistant and reasonably chafe resistant and are good fabrics for junk sails. Odyssey III is the lightest and has the most bias stretch however as junk sails are made up from small panels it's not a problem and if you are making flat sails, it will even give your sail some shape. You do need to be aware when working with Odyssey that only one side is coated. This means one side is slightly glossy so for a uniform appearance you need to keep it in mind.

Mustang is the next up in weight and is coated on both sides. Of three it is the easiest to work with and is very pleasant to handle.

Top Gun is very heavy and while not hard to sew, you do need a robust machine (and a strong back and arm helps).

If I were choosing, I'd use Odyssey III for sails up to around 400 SqFt and possibly up to about 500 SqFt if your sailing is mostly light airs. If you use it for larger sails, make sure your luff and leach are suitably reinforced and you have good patches at the head tack and clue.

Mustang would be the choice for 250 SqFt to about 650 SqFt. I used Mustang for La Chica's sails and they were a joy to make and have also proved a joy to handle. I can unhesitatingly recommend it. Once again if using for sails at the larger end of the spectrum, look to your reinforcement.

I used Top Gun for Aphrodite's sails which are around 650 SqFt. They are super strong and can handle anything that you could through at them. However I'd not use Top Gun for cambered sails smaller that 600SqFt. If the sail were flat, you could use it for smaller sails but I do not see the point.

My sail was made from Odyssey 111 by Russell Streckfuss of Storm Bay Sails in Tasmania.  I am not sure where he bought the material from but could find out if you wanted to use it, or you could look him up on Google and contact him yourself.  He didn't like working with the material but others like Annie and Paul in NZ seem to have found it ok.  I have been told you need a walking foot machine. It is kind of sticky, is coated on one side and Russell said the coating gummed up his equipment.  I was a bit unnerved by the material at first as it seems very light though I think it is quite strong.  But it is a bit stretchy and that has caused me a few problems.  Russell straight-stitched most of my sail because of the problems he was having and a few of the seams needed reinforcing, particularly at the throat.  I also have had to reinforce some of the smaller eyelets with hand stitching as the material was starting to pull out of the eyelets.  It seems quite tear and chafe resistant, though I did put a small hole in it when my yard broke last year and I note Daniel Collins has had a similar experience with one of his new sails that chafed on the rough surface of his mast (since sanded smooth!).  If you can build your sail with good reinforcing, folded over seams and at least a double row of zig zag stitching I think it would be perfectly ok.  If you are building flat sails you could also use an acrylic fabric like Sunbrella or one of the other brands.  A bit more chafe prone I am told but I have friends who have sailed many happy miles with acrylic sails. (As Badger also did in the past.)

You can try Bainbridges, its where I sourced our Odyssey III fabric. The price worked out similar to Rochford's when price of courier from the US was factored in ($800+ !). Had to wait a few months for them to get a shipment in too.