Mylar Sails at Wenatchee - a report from Scott Davis

We were lucky enough to try out the mylar sails at Lake Wenatchee. Winds were about 15-25 knots. We would echo Jay and Lisa's comments about sail cloth weight. The cloth seems very thin. The breeze was very strong and in between races, the main flogged significantly more than the dacron main, especially given that it has only 4 battens. Hopefully this has been considered.

We also agree that the sails seem more forgiving. It was very puffy and shifty so it was difficult to judge how we did with the mylar sails vs. how we would have done with dacron but overall the mylar setup seemed to automatically respond to changes in wind strength and required less adjustment of mainsheet, vang and traveler

One item that needs to be addressed is the black plastic fittings that hold the jib to the forestay. In the last race the breeze got up to about 22-25knots and the top 3 plastic fittings came open so the jib was no longer attached to the forestay. I spoke with the Renehans, Fritz Lanzinger and Andy Mack and they all said that the 49ers taped the fittings to prevent from opening. Lesson learned. Perhaps there is some other fitting that would be better?

Scott Davis

Posted 2005-08-26

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