Annie Hill wrote:I had a highly unpleasant surprise when I lowered my sail the other day: there was a tear, near the leach, below the yard which hadn't been there before I let go of the halliard.  When I examined the material - Rochford's Odyssey III - my heart sank.  The fabric was rotten, as though it had been sun-damaged.  I could easily tear it at 90 degrees to the split.  The extent of the tear can be seen here and the little tears I made at right angles, are shown here.

Before we all get too carried away with thinking this is UV damage, are we sure it's not wind damage? The splits look very similar to the breakdown of cloth that I reported earlier, due to fluttering of the leech when reefed. If it's UV damage, shouldn't the whole top panel be weak?

Sail cloth is such unpleasant stuff to work with and handle on a boat that I'd do a lot of looking and experimenting before I give up and use it for my sails. And since you need a sail cover if you use sail cloth, I'd rather just then make a cover for my Odyssey sails and still have the handling benefits.

Ha, Got ya!!   We don't actually have to handle the sail cloth on a junk rig. I had never really realised this until I read your comment above. Even with the big sail that Footprints has I have never had manhandle the sail, it all stacks down so neatly between the battens and the yard. The only bits of sail I need to tidy up are some loose folds at either end of the boom when the sail is dropped. This is a far cry from wrestling with the sails on a bermudan rig. Although a Dacron is all crinkley and waxy and hard to handle when new the cloth seems to loose that coating fairly quickly and become a lot softer.

Sometimes when I get a bit frustrated with my junk sail I flirt with the idea of going back to a conventional rig, and then I start thinking about all of the handling advantages of a junk rig and the fact that I (on Footprints) only ever have to deal with one sail which stacks down so well and lives permanently on the mast, and that there are no headsails of any kind to deal with, and I realise that this sail has got a lot going for it.

 

Paul Thompson wrote:

Gary King wrote:Should cross Odyssey off the list of recommended sail cloth.

No, it's still a great cloth for the job. You just need to make a cover. Not quite so convenient but sometimes life is like that :-(

Except, the biggest advantage awning cloth has over dacron was that it didnt need (or thought it didnt need) covering up. I would have chosen the coated both sides cloth if I'd known.

David Thatcher wrote:No one has mentioned proper sail cloth in this forum thread. I know that sailcloth generally comes in the rather boring colours of white and off white but it is the fabric built for the purpose and I suspect no  more expensive than a fabric such as Top Gun. The off white Haywards sail cloth on Footprints and Tystie has built in UV protection and I love the 

Sail cloth is such unpleasant stuff to work with and handle on a boat that I'd do a lot of looking and experimenting before I give up and use it for my sails. And since you need a sail cover if you use sail cloth, I'd rather just then make a cover for my Odyssey sails and still have the handling benefits.

Nothing has changed that renders Odyssey any less suitable for the job. It's just that we now know you need a sail cover if you use fabrics that are coated on only one side.

I still do not expect to have a problem with my Mustang sails, which like Top Gun are coated on both sides.

I know that Top Gun is generally considered the best of the best when it comes to awning fabrics and will last for many years. The longevity of a fabric will depend on the amount of UV exposure and in the case of Annie's cloth failure some of the cause will be the high amount of UV radiation in New Zealand, as witnessed by the fact that along with Australia we have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.

Top Gun is quite heavy and having had a very heavy sail made from Duradon (which does not rot) I know that light weight is better when it comes to sail cloth. No one has mentioned proper sail cloth in this forum thread. I know that sailcloth generally comes in the rather boring colours of white and off white but it is the fabric built for the purpose and I suspect no  more expensive than a fabric such as Top Gun. The off white Haywards sail cloth on Footprints and Tystie has built in UV protection and I love the colour, and the sail has been much admired by many people.

A sail cover is I think important to protect the monetary and time investment in our sails. It took me almost 3 days to build the sail cover for Footprints, what with all the cut outs and velcro strips to allow for lazy jacks etc, and learning how to make a sail cover as I went, but I know that a sail built of good quality Dacron, and covered when not in use will last for 10 years plus.