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The Mainsail

is the workhorse of your boat's sailplan.  Because the mainsail is used virtually all the time, its fabric must be light enough for sensitivity in light conditions and tough enough to withstand the extreme loads of high wind.  The mainsail must not only have an airfoil shape that covers the range of wind strength in which you sail, it must also drive the boat on all points of sailing and maintain its airfoil shape when reefed.  Finally the mainsail fabric must be as supple as possible for easy handling by shorthanded cruising crews - the stiff fabrics favoured by racing sailors can be a nightmare for cruisers.

 

The Right Cut

Because cruising boats differ in size and type, and their owners differ in the way they use their boat, we, together with HONG KONG SAILMAKERS offer a number of panel layouts (each available with the batten type of your choice) for cruising mainsails. While there are no hard and fast rules, each panel layout is best suited to certain size boats and primary uses.

 

 
CROSSCUT   Tried-and-tested panel layout for small to mid-size boats and all types of cruising.  Fabrics for crosscut mainsails are well proven, low stretch, and available in many weights. VERTICAL CUT  Good for small to mid-size boats.  The vertical cut eliminates load-bearing seams along the leech edge.  A good choice for battenless or in-mast furling mainsails.
TRI-RADIAL  Best for boats over 40 ft.  The tri-radial design keeps stretch to a minimum and allows lighter cloth to be used in the low-load center sections, and heavier cloth in the high-load corners. BI-RADIAL  Good for mid-size to large boats.  Radial design allows "step up" cloth weights - along the leech area, lighter along the foot and luff sections.
FULL-RADIAL  Best for smaller, performance cruising boats where less stretch than a crosscut panel layout is desired.  Also well-suited to battenless or in-mast furling systems.    

 

Battens and Reef Points

What type of battens should you get? Here's a quick rundown. Conventional-length battens are easy to handle when hoisting and furling the sail, but long-distance cruisers find them susceptible to chafe and point-loading of the sail at their inboard ends. Full-length battens give superb sail shape and stability to the mainsail, but they require the installation of batten-car sliders or tracks, and care must be taken when hoisting and furling the sail. A battenless mainsail is zero-maintenance, but about 15% of the mainsail's area is sacrificed due to the necessary "hollow" that must be cut into the leech.

 

Measuring for your Mainsail

(Click on the heading above)

Measure your rig's maximum dimensions.  Hong Kong SailmakerS' sail designers will make the proper allowances for stretch and hardware.

 

Send mail to info@sailsuk.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 02/04/07