While I was researching for my recent tips on buying sails I came across a great page over at North Sails explaining the tradeoffs of pretty much all the fibres used in sailcloth.
One quote jumped out at me:
Ultra PE fiber [Spectra/Dyneema] is expensive, but very long sail life ensures high value in these sails.
But then of course it would, given that it corroborates my choice of favourite offshore voyaging sailcloth.
The other big takeaway is that Pentex™ is not a good idea for cruising sails because:
…PEN fibers are found only in combination with PET (aka “mylar”) film in laminate cloth for panelled sails. PEN does not come in woven form.
Anyway, definitely worth a read:
Further Reading
Much more on sails and rigging:
Yes, cost per year of expected sail shape/life is a much better measure than total cost.
I completed my first season with a brilliant new radial cut headsail by Quantum using Challenge Palma cloth which also is Ultra PE enhanced. Same discussion with my sailmaker on cost – which was reasonable for my Tartan 40. The sail will end up being a much better value than anything cheaper due to enhanced lifespan and extended performance (which matters a lot to me for cruising)
Unless you have a Phd in materials technology the North Sails graph is about as much use as mammaries on a male bovine! As end user, one of, the most important metrics, for me is cost per hours use, i.e. $/hr until replacment/expected life. The other is percentage loss of efficiency (shape) per hour use.
When buying new sails, a few years ago, the problem I encountered with each of the “big 4” sail makers was that besides a statement of the, hopefully, bleeding obvious, that the more expensive cloth was “better” no one could tell me how to get the best bang for my buck.
The fundamental problem is that the companies that we buy our sails from are SAILMAKERS. The companies that produce the sail CLOTH are chemical companies.
Hi John,
Each to their own, but I found it useful and clear. Anyway, if you prefer a real world experience based solution to which cloth provides long life with good shape, we have that too: https://www.morganscloud.com/jhhtips/my-favourite-cruising-sail-cloth/
As well as which fabrics to avoid: https://www.morganscloud.com/jhhtips/cruising-sails-two-cloth-fibres-to-avoid/