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Clear sail for Aquacat 12.5?

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Last Post by Isotope235 11 years ago

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WildBilly66

(@wildbilly66)

Posts: 5

Member

Topic starter

[#30832]

I would like to be able to

see

thru (the bottom) of my sail. All I see out there is Dacron sails.

1) Are there any clear or partially clear sails for this non-battened sail?

2) If not, is there any problem with cutting out an area and stitching in a old clear windsurf sail(mylar?)?

Thanks in advance .............. Bill

Posted : July 21, 2015 8:44 pm

Jake Kohl

(@jake)

Posts: 11744

Three Star Admiral Registered

Originally Posted by WildBilly66

I would like to be able to

see

thru (the bottom) of my sail. All I see out there is Dacron sails.

1) Are there any clear or partially clear sails for this non-battened sail?

2) If not, is there any problem with cutting out an area and stitching in a old clear windsurf sail(mylar?)?

Thanks in advance .............. Bill

Bill, any sail loft can cut you in a window in the bottom of that sail or you could definitely do it yourself. It probably wouldn't be too expensive to have a sail loft do it and there are a lot of lofts around the country. If you do it yourself, the stitching job might be slightly above the capacity of a home duty sewing machine, though. The right material for the job is either this 4mil X-ply

http://www.sailrite.com/Monofilm-4mil-X-Ply-54

or this 5 mil monofilm

http://www.sailrite.com/Monofilm-5mil-54

Posted : July 22, 2015 6:32 am

WildBilly66

(@wildbilly66)

Posts: 5

Member

Topic starter

Thanks Jake!

Any thoughts if this clear type of material will be too

brittle

for a non=battened sail? That is will it tear while flopping around in the wind say on a turn?

Posted : July 23, 2015 9:03 am

Jake Kohl

(@jake)

Posts: 11744

Three Star Admiral Registered

Originally Posted by WildBilly66

Thanks Jake!

Any thoughts if this clear type of material will be too

brittle

for a non=battened sail? That is will it tear while flopping around in the wind say on a turn?

I wouldn't make a whole sail out of it if that is what you mean. It would be too brittle for that. For a window in an existing sail, however, it would be fine. My monohull sailboat has windows in the jib and main made from the same material like this:

Posted : July 23, 2015 12:17 pm

Isotope235

(@isotope42)

Posts: 807

Member

The 4mil X-ply monofilm is what we use for the window in the Isotope Jib (which is not battened). We stopped using it in panels at the luff of the sail, where furling was really hard on the material, but it holds up as well as the 2mil Pentex on the back half of the sail. I think it would be more than adequate for an Aquacat sail.

I hope that helps,
Eric

Posted : July 23, 2015 2:20 pm