Kevlar Sail Care

[doons60]

Last week we caught in some pretty good wind in Gardiners Bay and the small split in the seam of our jib became a huge rip. Out roller furling looked more like the mummy than a neatly wrapped sail as we came into Greenport.

When we got in we took it down and put up a Kevlar sail the PO bought for racing. We had never put it up as I always had the thought that we'd sell it. After seeing it up and a nice run from Greenport to Westbrook, it's not being sold.

So here's my question. I've been warned about keeping the Kevlar sail in the furling wiithout some sort of sunshade. But, do I have to be worried about keeping it up for a few weeks? I know it sounds lazy, it is, but I'd rather wait to pull it down at the end of the season but if it's going to be damaged I don't want to be foolish.

Thanks

[tommays]

UV is wicked and will kill it

[zz4gta]

First, make sure the sail is designed to be stored on a furling unit. If not, it should never be furled. Second, keep the thing out of the sunlight. Otherwise, sell the sail to someone who will take care of it. Roll it if you can, if not, brick (flake) it and keep it out of the sun, and keep it dry.

If you're not motoring out to the startline of a race, take it down. No sun for kevlar, ever. Of course, that goes for any sail you care about.

[hellosailor]

doons, if the kevlar is laminated or glued at all, UV destroys that pretty quickly. The good news is that any sailormaker can stitch a protective strip along the luff and the foot, that's why you usually see a colored stripe on the edges of rolled headsails. They can also use a clear UV-protective layer, but even for Dacron sails, a UV protective edging is a good idea. Shouldn't be too expensive, all told.