Kevlar

SkipperofVaruna

SkipperofVaruna

New Member
I'm looking to replace an older radial sail. i'm seeing more and more kevlar on other racing boats (not lasers) so i was wondering, are kevlar sails legal on lasers? i couldn't find anything in the rules pdf document
 
SkipperofVaruna said:
I'm looking to replace an older radial sail. i'm seeing more and more kevlar on other racing boats (not lasers) so i was wondering, are kevlar sails legal on lasers? i couldn't find anything in the rules pdf document
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Right now only North and Hyde make new legal sails. Their sails are made of dacron.
 
Can you send your 'white' sail away and have it reconditioned?

I had a set of sails for my Hobie 16 re-done and they came out
crisp!
 
No offense for people that are trying to save money these days,(which seems like alot of people) By making it themselves. Just go and buy the actual thing! support aps or your local store!
 
sk8ingsailor said:
No offense for people that are trying to save money these days,(which seems like alot of people) By making it themselves. Just go and buy the actual thing! support aps or your local store!
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This is not sensitive to people from different socio-economic circumstances. Are we going to have this with every post where someone suggests to repair or build something? There are also people who ENJOY making do and not automatically throwing the old thing away. I think part of fun of TLF is learning how to fix all bits of the boat. There wouldn't be much to say if everyone just tossed the old whenenver it wore out. We could just have a forum that listed boat dealers. Boring!! But the original post is about Kevlar sails. Let's not have another Bradley intervention! Skipper of Varuna must be getting a bad impression of us. No, Skip, it isn't always like this, but it has been a lot lately. Hmmm...
 
sk8ingsailor said:
No offense for people that are trying to save money these days,(which seems like alot of people) By making it themselves. Just go and buy the actual thing! support aps or your local store!
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Why should we spend money that we don't have to? And who mentioned making anything themselves? The post above yours mentioned sending the sails away to have them reconditioned. There was no mention of anyone wanting to fix their own sails.
Old Geezer said:
Why is the laser so strict about sails? Why should it matter if a guy has a Kevlar sails? We should be able to use any sail we want. What's the big deal? ;)
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The strict laser class rules make racing as fair as possible. Nobody should gain an advantage because they have extra money to spend.
 
AAHF said:
The strict laser class rules make racing as fair as possible. Nobody should gain an advantage because they have extra money to spend.
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In an ideal Laser world perhaps. Reality is different, however. Some people buy a new sail every year (or more often) and a new (stiff) boat every other year or so.....

Can Ross promise us a new sail with each membership renewal? I would certainly vote for him if that's the case :)
 
Wavedancer said:
In an ideal Laser world perhaps. Reality is different, however. Some people buy a new sail every year (or more often) and a new (stiff) boat every other year or so.....

Can Ross promise us a new sail with each membership renewal? I would certainly vote for him if that's the case :)
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As Ross's campaign manager I can honestly say (read my lips) that if elected President he would reward everyone who voted for him with a new sail. Not only will it be new it will be different from every other Laser sail ever made. Out with the strictness, in with the new.

Vote Ross for President. But vote early. They are cutting off the voting after 150 entries.
 
new sail? free! that solves my problem! GO ROSS!!!

AND- saving money?? a kevlar sail can cost as much as 5 times more than a dacron one!
 
Kevlar sails are pretty cool. I'm fascinated by all the engineering thought that has to go into the extremely high performance sails (AC cup and VOR and stuff like that). I'm thinking about going into sail design a bit in the long run.

Just putting that out there. :p
 
shoot.. the leadmine I race on blew up the main not too long ago, 800+ SqFt of nice kevlar, minus a 7 foot rip. She's got a new main, might be able to talk the owners out of the old one if anyone wants a fun kevlar main or 7... :) we were gonna make crew bags, but I think they would get a kick out of the material being sailed again.
 
phosphor said:
Kevlar sails are pretty cool. I'm fascinated by all the engineering thought that has to go into the extremely high performance sails (AC cup and VOR and stuff like that). I'm thinking about going into sail design a bit in the long run.

Just putting that out there. :p
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Not to disturb your nice conversation much, but, a jibe for an AC-Racer has a lifetime of 28 hours and the main: about 36 hours...
The only thing that I am able to "see" is, that such Keflaer-Sails for the Laser would be "pretty cool for the wallet again of the out-of-the-box-boat-builders" at our nice dinghy class....

Cheers
LooserLu
 
I know they have short lifespans, I just think the all the analysis of loads and stresses that goes into the making is cool. I don't think Kevlar really belongs in a class such as the Laser in racing. But as Ross and others pointed out above that discussion has been had before.
 
kevlar sails in real world boats, such as boats we sail, can last a long time if built and cared for properly

I sailed a Finn once with a kevlar/mylar sail that was in great condition, and was 5 years old
 
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