[quote=shortyfox]I once had a boat that had sets of both dacron and mylar. The difference in stretch was very noticeable with the downhaul. The mylar would tighten so far and then to get it really tight another inch would do it. The dacron would move several inches. The mylar was lighter, the main advantage for me was rolling up the sail by myself while standing on a not so stable boat. I had another boat with mylar and I made the mistake of rolling up the sail wet with salt water. The water mitigated into the layers of material around the battens via the stitching. Ugly streaks of brown mold formed that no amount of soaking with a mild bleach solution would remove. Dacron does not have this problem. I got 8 years out of these sails, both started delaminating at the head, possibly because I would roll them starting from the head, the roll being tighter there.
I have a friend that sails a Hobie and even though the sails are worn out and 40 years old they still get him on the water. I was told that if you don't rinse dacron, salt crystals can get in the fiber and abrade it and over the years can shorten the life of the sail. I would like to hear a comment on this.
So my humble opinion is if you are going to race, get a modern, hi tech, low stretch sail. If not, stick with dacron. You won't notice any difference in speed but your wallet will thank you.[/quote]
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