Types of sail

[Tom HIll]

Hi,

I'm currently looking into a long overdue replacement for the sails on my Design 8. Looking at P&B's website I'm slightly daunted by the array of options so would be great to get some advice on what is most suitable. In addition to the Dacron/Laminate choice the laminate itself seems to come as either radial, ODL06 and ODL04 all of which in turn give a choice of full or flat cut. I mainly sail at Twickenham so will mostly be dealing with light, fluky winds with more wind above tree height so guessing lighter material with more roach at the top is useful. Any thoughts on the different options offered would be great.

Tom

[John m]

Sailing on the river I would go for Dacron.  It lasts longer and I think is easier to read.  It lasts longer as the laminates on a Mylar sail will shrink at different rates.  I think this outweighs having a lighter laminate sail.  For the river I would go for a flat cut.  [Interestingly a laminate, if you go that way, when shrinking will likely become flatter too.  It will hold its design shape very well initially but will then turn into a bit of a car crash...]