This picture shows how big the square top is, my previous grey Pentex squaretop from Whirlwind Sails had about a 24 inch squaretop, this one is 53 inches and at a more square angle. The total sail area is about the same as the previous squaretop and of a stock Hobie sail due to less roach down the sail.
Damon, how does the pentex jib hold up with furling?
I leave mine rigged all summer, & have heard pentex degrades when snugly furled.
-- Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap --
I don't leave my jib rolled up all season so couldn't tell you for sure. My general rule is I'll leave the jib furled if I'm going to sail the next day for sure, otherwise I take it down.
Furling is bad for sails because of both sun and wind damage. I you use a furling sock type cover those sometimes are loose enough to flog in the wind and damage the sail by friction, and in my area mud wasps love to build nests in the folds of the sail. If you don't use a cover then the leech gets a ton of UV damage.
I can understand that leaving the jib furled can make things so much easier if you sail a lot that it might pay to just consider the jib a "wear item" and plan to replace it often.
I haven't read anything definitive on the comparative damage between woven and laminate sails in those cases.
The EP color injected sails use the heavier 3 mil mylar instead of 1.5 so they feel sturdier than sails made with less expensive cloth. EP doesn't have a "budget" line of sails, so any sails they build are meant to be the best they can build for the application. My Hobie 18 jib has several short battens sewn into the leech at such an angle that when the sail is furled they line up with the forestay. I'd never had that on any previous sail and completely eliminated the "flutter" common on the giant H18 jib.
I will warn anyone who makes the jump from "soft" dacron sails to the high-end laminate sails used on all the modern beachcats is that they do require different handling when raising and lowering to avoid kinking or creasing the sail which can damage the mylar or fibers in the sandwich. Most of us roll, rather than fold the main sail, but fold or "wad" the jib with old dacron sails and you don't want to do that with laminates.
The good side is they aren't prone to stains like woven cloth sails.
I thought the socks were a PITA, I had the sailmaker sew a UV strip to all my jibs, (it goes along foot & leech) none of the sail is exposed when furled.
When keeping the Cats on a modified Seadoo lift, it is a real PITA to hoist or remove jib, maybe less for you cause you're 10' tall
Standing between the hulls, in waist deep water I can barely touch the furling drum. In order to hoist/remove a jib you have to place a 2x6 across the hulls to sit on. The Mystere 6XL, with a 10' beam was worse, so I hoist it once & leave it furled.
Maybe for new jibs I'll just stick with Dacron.
The old Nacra jibs have those, originally they were parallel to the foot. I left them out once & it fluttered, unless sheeted to the max, which can be counterproductive.
When I went to furling the sailmaker removed them & installed 2 new ones, that matched the forestay, but were twice as long, to make up for the angle. If you don't match the forestay it furls like crap.
-- Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap --
Damon I just ordered the injection in Tangerine! it is going to be LOUD! Now I cant really wait for the Ice to melt up here! 4 more weeks till the first community fleet race at Sacandaga!
-- Ted
Hobie 21SE Feral Cat
Upstate NY lake sailing --
yes I ordered the job and main. Square top!
Skip Eliot is building it.
Nice, can't wait to see the pictures. Have you been using stock sails or were you already using a square-top or pentex sail? I found it to be much more of a change than I exprected when I got my first Pentex Square-top and another big change to the more powerful EP sails. Really had to learn to sail the boat all over again.
Talked to skip tonight and the material has arrived and should get cut tomorrow! Can't wait to see what they will look like. This will be my first sailing with square top sail. They will most likely be more powerful than the used sails I have been using. They were delaminating as season went on last year and I could tell performance was lagging.
-- Ted
Hobie 21SE Feral Cat
Upstate NY lake sailing --