Hey

You fold/flak/roll/pack your sails because you love your boat and you love
to sail. Its that simple, it is a must.
Wet sails not a big issue, dry at first chance. Nothing wrong with tossing
a wet sail in a locker, car or room and letting it dry and then pack.

Big boats or small - how you put your sails away depends if you race or
cruise.

Cruisers will fold sails unless they happen to have exotic materials then
they roll.
To fold on a big boat - toss sail on one side, grab tack & clue and fold on
the other side of the deck. Folds will be small and maybe irregular but it
works. Mains are flaked. Thanks to roller furling gear head sails are
rolled.

Race (big and small) boats will roll sails, this keeps the cloth from
creasing, breaking down and will hold its shape better over time
To roll on a big race boat ditto above but roll it. Mains may be rolled on
the boom starting at the head or taken off and rolled.
All rolled sails will have long sailbags.

Spinnakers are most often stuffed in their turtle (i.e. bag) and are later
repacked. Repacking is either flaking from the head down the leeches to the
clues or you sausage the chute and place breakable rubber bands the length
of the spinnaker. The spinnaker's head and clues are exposed outside the
turtle so you can attach halyards and sheets easily.

Lastly smart sailors will treat their sails with care. Dont work on them.
Dont bleed on them. Rinse off if in salt water. Keep covered for UV
protection. And mark the corners.

stu


"padeen" wrote in message
...
I was shown how to precisely fold my sails for my 16' Luger and told that
this is a must, but there are times when I don't have the space or time to
do this. How do people with larger boats fold their sails, especially
when
underway? Don't they just shove them into the sail storage area and dry
them when they can? Just what are the issues involved with folding, vs.
stuffing, sails?
TIA for any information.

Padeen

"padeen" wrote...
I was shown how to precisely fold my sails for my 16' Luger and told that
this is a must, but there are times when I don't have the space or time to
do this. How do people with larger boats fold their sails, especially when
underway? Don't they just shove them into the sail storage area and dry
them when they can? Just what are the issues involved with folding, vs.
stuffing, sails?

Folding sails is more space-efficient than stuffing. Also, for new sails,
folding will help preserve the "crispness" imparted by the sizing.

For larger boats/sails, folding may be impractical. Stuffing is quicker and
takes less work area.

Sails are a considerable investment in your boat, and the way you manage
that invesment will translate directly to the pleasure you get from your
boat and your sailing (and your chequebook). On smaller boats (and
extensively used in dinghy classes) try a piece of 4" PVC drainage tube the
same length as the foot of the sail and roll the sail around the tube before
putting it in a sausage bag or "sock". You may choose to start the roll
along the foot or from the head, or other ways, but this has to be the best
way to avoid creases, folds and other fabric-destroying effects. Of
course, you are left with an inflexible and fairly large package to stow,
but they are easily carried in this fashion and can be stowed in ways that
other sails cannot. For the Mainsail on my Etchells, this is the only way
to go.

"John R Weiss" wrote in message
news:yeLeb.657596$uu5.106949@sccrnsc04...
"padeen" wrote...
I was shown how to precisely fold my sails for my 16' Luger and told
that
this is a must, but there are times when I don't have the space or time
to
do this. How do people with larger boats fold their sails, especially
when
underway? Don't they just shove them into the sail storage area and dry
them when they can? Just what are the issues involved with folding, vs.
stuffing, sails?

Folding sails is more space-efficient than stuffing. Also, for new sails,
folding will help preserve the "crispness" imparted by the sizing.

For larger boats/sails, folding may be impractical. Stuffing is quicker
and
takes less work area.