Hi there, I have some lovely photos from David Harding of Amiina's new sail. 

Just have to work out how to put them on the website.   They will show the tell tales in action. 

Also the material is very satisfactory for my use.  I don't intend to cross oceans, maybe the Channel, but not much more. I have had her out in some quite strong winds, with no signs of any wear or stress. We have also acheived what we wanted with the panels inflating easily in the lightest of airs. 

2.2 ozs. ripstop spinnaker nylon seems to be very appropriate for this size of sail, and the sort of sailing 90% of us do. IMHO. 

Hi David,

I would agree on using a non-stretchy polyester to cover a wind vane as you will want it to stay tight, but the very slightly stretchy nylon should be softer for a low stressed cambered sail, and set better. I was always slightly jealous of Arne's blue nylon sails, and after making the plywood feel polyester sails for Poppy have always been looking for a good nylon to use. I'm wondering if I've found it in Amiina's new sail, being tough and light. We'll see.

Cheers, Slieve.

I ordered a sample of the balloon cloth. We'll see what it feels like in real life :)

Jami, as someone coming new to JR, and coming new to sailmaking, I do feel that you should stay with a material that someone else has already tried for sailmaking, successfully. I can understand why the racers such as Edward and Ketil are using ultralight sails, but if you're not racing, you need a sail that is both easy to make, and easy to live with. This silnylon is not easy to sew, and will not be easy to live with.

I try only to recommend a cloth that either I have used successfully myself, or I have heard of someone else using successfully. My experience has been that the softer uncoated cloths work better for JR, and are much easier to work with. In my case, Clipper Canvas. In the case of Sebastien Hentschel, a professional sailmaker, Weathermax. The Outguard material that you have found seems to be very similar to Weathermax in its characteristics, so it's not stepping too far outside of my comfort zone to say that it's worth a try. Outguard 190 is the right weight for your sail size - not too light, not too heavy.

But there's no harm at all in getting a metre or two of any material you find, getting hands-on and doing some sewing trials. This will eliminate some of them, straightaway.

One that you might want to try, if you want to be a pioneer, is http://www.extremtextil.de/catalog/
Cordura-330den-uncoated-185g-sqm::181.html - soft and easy to sew, and Cordura lasts well when used for outdoor gear.

Maybe it makes sense to ask the balloon cloth maker about the life expectancy. I doubt if balloon makers would use a material which lasts for less than 5 years.

Besides, I suggested using a sail cover between use.

Arne

PS: From the last article about Edward Hooper's Amiina, in PBO (Mars issue) I see that the new (16.25sqm) sail is 2.2oz ripstop spinnaker nylon. 2.2oz is less than 100g/sqm, isn't it?