"Arturo Ui" wrote in message
oups.com..
..
I'm about to place an order for a new genoa for cruising &
racing on my
24' boat, and have received a bewildering array of styles
and prices,
from a straight cut Dacron genoa to a tri-radial Kevlar
laminate genoa.
Priced in the middle are materials such as Twaron, Polykote
and Pentex.


A big deal is made of sail cut. The Dacron sails are
usually offered
straight cut (Non radial cut) and the laminated fabrics seem
to be
offered more radially cut than not.

That doesn't mean that the panels are sewn together
''straight''.

Does the stretch of a Dacron sail produce the required shape
(In the
middle of each panel) and outweigh the need to have the
additional
radial panel pattern?


Sail Construction

Camber is created in sails by a combination of broadseaming
(the panel edges
are curved before sewing together) and luff curve (the sail
is wider in the
middle; when put on a nearly straight mast the excess cloth
produces camber).
The name "broadseaming" comes from the earlier practice of
overlapping the
cloth more near the ends of the seams than at the middle;
now we trim off the
excess.

Early cotton sails were very stretchy, and most of the
camber was induced by
luff curve. Although the excess cloth that produces camber
is all along the
luff, stretch allows the depth to move towards the middle
of the sail.

Modern sails of low stretch cloth are made with the camber
produced by
broadseaming, and the luff curve is matched to the mast.
This gives MUCH better
control over shape, as the seam contour puts the camber
precisely where you want
it rather than where stretch happens to put it.

http://cerebus.winsite.com/laser/arc.../msg00666.html




Am I best off going for a laminated genoa that is non-radial
cut,
rather than a radial-cut dacron genoa? (Some sailmakers
offer
attractive prices on Twaron laminate, not radially cut)

Am I better off paying more £ for a sail with a radial cut
in Dacron
or a laminate, just the laminate or not for either? (Just
going for a
sail in a laminate with a straight cut)

Many thanks in advance for your opinions and experiences



You need to tell us where / what type / what boat, sailing
you're doing.

Scotty