At
Stephen Ratsey Sailmakers we have an ongoing development as a result
of constant feed back from existing customers. We have proven race designs.
We use the latest sail design programs to shape the sail and to mould it perfectly
to your boat. We have the ability to shape the leech of a genoa to hug the
spreaders and enable perfect sheeting. With mainsails we can shape the luff
curve to match the sail to the curve of the mast. With this criteria met,
our sail design gives the perfect race sail set up.
This is the most important decision in any race sail; quite
often your decision will be made by budget.
The
cheapest race sails are made from woven Dacron cloth. The main advantage being
longevity and the main disadvantage being stretch under load. The weave of
Dacron cloth means it is very flexible and doesn't break down from creasing,
but the threads of the cloth are trying to straighten under load therefore
it does stretch and can loose shape.
The next stage of cloth is a laminate there are three main types:-
- Polyester
- Pentex
- Kevlar
Kevlar is the most resistant to stretch (3-5 times better than woven Dacron).
All laminates are made in a similar way having the main load bearing yarns
running down the cloth with others at 90° and 45°. These strands are
all lined to the stresses of the sail.
The panel layout and the fabric have a huge benefit in shape retention over
woven Dacron, so to anyone serious about racing, laminate cloth is the only
choice.
Kevlar is being used more and more in race sails because of the introduction
of X-Tech fabric from Dimension Polyant (green coloured sails). This has brought
about a good balance between performance and durability.
Our
race spinnakers are specially designed for optimum downwind performance using
high quality AIRX spinnaker fabrics.
We
use all the latest technology for constructing your race sails, all sails
consist of:-
- laser cut panels for perfect accuracy.
- Latest Battern Development.
- Sail cloth made as light as possible and as durable as possible.
For more information and a quote click here.