C&C 27 Association Forum

Brent

Member

Headsail material

Greetings.

Congrats Steve on the MkV champs win.

I'm in the market for a new 150% headsail and would appreciate any insight on the best material for me considering I use the boat mostly for racing, budget is middle of the road and durability is important too. I have heard lots of negative comments about Norths 3DL sails but I am open to suggestion. What is powering Still Knot Working to all those wins?
Brent Driedger

S/V Wild Rover

C&C 27 MkV #15

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Brent Driedger
S/V Wild Rover
C&C 27 MkV #15
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Steve Reid

Member

Re: Headsail material

Brent:

Our inventory is almost exclusively Doyle. We have a #2 which is Quantum, but it's a cut down #1 and not what I consider a great racing sail.

Our current #1 is a Doyle FLex and was new at the beginning of this season, it replaced a 4 year old Doyle Square Weave Dacron.  I'm not convinced that either sail is/was (when it was new) better that the other. each sail, in it's day had it's good points and it's not so good points.

As to what material to go with, that's a really good question. I had to make a choice last fall when I was deciding on the purchase of a #1. I did a lot of talking to my sailmaker and weighing the pros and cons of dacron versus a laminate material. I had been a very strong proponant of Dacron Square Weave, and still feel it has some really good atributes on boats our size. My current main is Square Weave and after 4 seasons is still nice and crisp and the shape is holding up very well. But when it comes to a Genoa I'm now leaning more to a laminate material. In terms of cost I found that it really didn't make much differance whether I went with Dacron or Flex. The reason was that if we went dacron the sail would have to be a tri-radial cut and therefore more seams and hand work. With the Flex we could go with a cross cut design and what we saved on the seams and hand work was offset by the higher cost of material.

I have chosen Doyle, over all the other choices out there, simply because I have a very good relationship with the loft, sailmaker and designer. I can talk to them and they will work with me to get the sail right. My dock neighbour at the club, Distant Thunder 27 MkV 69, has mostly Quantum on the boat, he also has a UK Halsey. He seems to like the sails and he's fast. I've never had any experiance with North or 3DL, we have a Mark 5 at the club that has North Sails on it, they are about 3 or 4 years old now and I have gotten the impression from the owner that he is looking to make some changes.

I don't know what Sailmakers you have access to in your area, I'd be happy to put you in touch with Doyle if you decide you want to go that way. I think that the most important thing is that you find a Sailmaker that you can work with, one who will spend the time to find out what your needs are and your style of racing and then build you the sails for your boat, not just pick some design out of his library and say here you go.

As to the durability ofthe sails, a lot depends on how you use (abuse) them and how you maintain them. If you push any sail beyond it's limits it will shorten it's life, if you don't store the sails properly it will shorten their life. I send my sails back to the loft each fall to be checked over and fix anything that needs fixing.

Hope this helps and if I can be of any further help let me know.

Steve Reid

Still Knot Working 27 MkV #75

JWente

Member

Re: Headsail material

buy a kevlar cross cut sail from the sailemaker you like best and with the best service in your area.

say No to Dacron.

JIM

Brent

Member

Re: Headsail material

We have a Lee Sails rep in the area and he operates a reliable loft here. Other than that its pretty much spec. import. I have been quoted on Lee's laminate and although the miniature display model is a beautiful sail I have heard nothing about their racing pedigree. Add to that they are as expensive as the big boys (the sausage bag was quoted at $500.00!!!) I briefly had a 6 to 8 year old Doyle kevlar carbon fiber that for two outings was amazing and then I destroyed it in my first race when a line squall came over the start. Insurance is eating 40% so the numbers look realistic on direct replacement.
Brent Driedger

S/V Wild Rover

C&C 27 MkV #15

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Brent Driedger
S/V Wild Rover
C&C 27 MkV #15
;