On Saturday 07 Feb 2015 at the Safety at Sea seminar, produced by LandfallNavigation, I will be presenting a section on sails & sail fibers. This nearshore Safety at Sea seminar is being held at the Mystic Seaport in Ct. from 0800-1630
The following is a table of the basic properties, sailmakers are interested in, of the fibers currently used in making sails. In an earlier day, this information would be distributed at the event, but today, well it is here.
The information is from the North Sails website attributed to research by their cloth people
| Polyester (Dacron) | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 80 – 120 | 5 – 8 | 6 mo. | 0% | $2 | Racing & Cruising Sailing | ||
| Pros: Tough, durable, inexpensive, many weights and finishes. | |||||||
| Cons: Relatively stretchy compared to aramids. | |||||||
| PEN (Pentex) | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 250 | 10 | 5 mo. | 5% | $7 | Club Racers & Cruisers | ||
| Pros: Fits between Polyester and Aramid in performance and cost. | |||||||
| Cons: Cannot be woven tightly, best used in laminates. | |||||||
| Kevlar 29 Twaron SM | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 600 | 23 | 3 mo. | 25% | $15 | Regatta Racing Sails | ||
| Pros: Light weight, low stretch. | |||||||
| Cons: Low flex and UV resistance. | |||||||
| Kevlar 49 Twaron HM | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 940 | 24 | 3 mo. | 28% | $18+ | Grand Prix Racing Sails | ||
| Pros: Light weight, very low stretch. | |||||||
| Cons: Low flex and UV resistance. Expensive. | |||||||
| Carbon | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 1200 – 2500 | 20 – 40 | No effect | 30 – 100% | $15 – $100 | Grand Prix Racing Sails | ||
| Pros: Very light, extremely low stretch, good UV resistance. | |||||||
| Cons: Brittle, low flex resistance. | |||||||
| PBO (Zylon) | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 1600 | 36 | 1.5 mo. | 30% | $60 | Grand Prix Racing Sails | ||
| Pros: Extremely low stretch and light weight. | |||||||
| Cons: Low flex and very low UV resistance. Expensive. | |||||||
| Spectra / Dyneema | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 1100 | 34 | 7 mo. | No effect | $25 – $35 | Premium Cruisers | ||
| Pros: Very strong and durable. | |||||||
| Cons: Creep limits racing applications. | |||||||
| LCP (Vectran) | |||||||
| Modulus (gr/denier) | Tenacity (gr/denier) | UV Resist. (mo. to 50% strength loss) | Flex Loss (% in std. test) | Cost ($/lb.) | Uses | ||
| 580 | 28 | 1.5 mo. | No effect without UV | $25 | Premium Cruisers | ||
| Pros: Good flex when protected for UV. | |||||||
| Cons: Requires complete UV protections. | |||||||
| Modulus: Stretch resistance per weight. Higher is better for upwind sails. | |||||||
| Tenacity: Breaking strength per weight. Higher is better for sails. | |||||||
| UV Resistance: Strength loss in a standardized exposure test. | |||||||
| Flex Loss: Percent breaking strength lost in an industry standard 50 fold test. | |||||||