Sail Care

Correct sail maintenance can make a large difference to the life and performance of your sails. Regardless of the sail material, a little care can help a lot.

Avoid flogging: Flogging and leech flutter are the worst causes of cloth deterioration. To maintain the shape and strength of your sails, minimize the amount of time they are flapping in the breeze. When hoisting a sail while motoring, don't go too fast and, if motor sailing, keep the main trimmed. Always keep the leech lines tight enough so that the leeches don't flutter.

Stretch; Using a sail in a higher wind range than what it was designed for is one of the quickest ways to destroy it. It is better to reduce sail before the wind does it for you.

Chafe: Any part of the boat or mast that a sail rubs against should be protected, and don't drag a sail over anything rough. Tape up spreader ends especially with leather etc.

Sunlight: While direct sunlight is one of the worst enemies of sails, you cannot keep your sails out of the sun unless you only sail when it is cloudy. You should, how- ever, keep your sails covered any time they are not being used, even if only for an hour or two.

Storage: Sails should only be stored dry, free of salt and folded or rolled into sailbags. Don't fold sails in the same place each time as you will finish up with permanent creases. If you have a damp sail at the end of a cruise, take it home to dry or, if unable to, stow it loosely in the boat as long as it is a well ventilated craft.

Cleaning: To get rid of most of the salt from a sail, a gentle hosing down regularly. To clean a sail of dirt, use a diluted solution of a mild cleaner and warm water. Contact your sailmaker to advise a good cleaner suitable for your sails.

Folding: A folded or flaked sail will take up less room than one which is randomly stuffed into a bag, and it is much better for the life of the sail itself.

Headsails: To fold a genoa, start at the foot and fold in panels wide enough to fit in your stowage area. When the sail is entirely folded from foot to head, then fold both ends toward the middle leaving the tack on the outside of the last fold. It is preferable to have a large flat area to fold a sail - but rarely available - so you can fold on the cabin top using the boom as a feeder or fold on a marina using the boat as a feeder.

Mainsails: Can be easily stored on the boom by flaking it on to the boom and pulling the bottom fold out and wrapping it over the rest of the sail, then put a tie around the sail and boom or use shock- cord.

When the main is taken off the boom and mast it is folded from the foot the same as for a headsail.

Spinnakers: As long as they are dry, spinnakers or other nylon sails do not need to be folded. As long as the head and clews are gathered and the sail is not twisted, these sails are the only ones that can be stuffed into a bag.