Red Dacron Sails

[HudosonForce50]

Does anyone have any input on red/orange Dacron sails? I like the look.
No one seems to make them for larger sailboats, just hobbies and windsurfers.
White definitely loses its lust quickly.

[Jammer]

You mean tanbark? I like them, a more traditional look, fun, makes it easy to pick out your boat from a distance. I have them on my 12' sail trainer.

[JPA Cate]

Yes, though they tend to absorb more UV, so weaken and lose shape earlier than white, according to one of our sailmakers.

Ann

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Yes, though they tend to absorb more UV, so weaken and lose shape earlier than white, according to one of our sailmakers.

Ann

That is opposite of what should happen. The Pigments would absorb UV and convert it to heat, protecting the actual Dacron. Without the Pigments, the UV will penetrate deeper into the cloth to damage it. Similar principle why white zipties fail when exposed to UV but black last much longer.

I have not tested it or confirmed it, but that is how it _should_ work.

[JPA Cate]

@wholybee,

Perhaps that's correct. Sailmakers can make mistakes. The one in question had a tanbark dacron sail on his little pram dinghy, though, but he surely had access to the fabric at cost (as he would have had for the white), and maybe it didn't matter to him. On bigger boats, the dacron really doesn't hold up as well as some of the synthetic fabrics, but they all age.

However, it may just depend on what you want, what looks spiffiest to the individual, what they get, I mean. We never bought red sails for our boat, but they might look nice on a Force 50. We are interested in the performance value of sails, and part of that, for us, is longevity. Others' mmv.

Ann

[Jim Cate]

^^^^^

One can choose the tanbark dacron for appearance if that is important to them. It is a fact though that those colors don't seem to be offered in the higher performance weaves and materials desired and needed for many boats.

It comes down to individual priorities.

Jim

[Benz]

There are lots of options for tanbark-colored sails, though not nearly as many as for white. More, I think, in the UK, where there's a lively interest in old-school gaffers. But if you shop with sailmakers that cater to the gaffer crowd, they'll be able to find it.
North Sails also has a red paint they can coat white sails with, but I wasn't impressed: maybe it hadn't been given time to dry, but they bled red for a few weeks, and looked horrible around wrinkle spots, like reef bunts.

[RobertL]

You might want to reach out to Sebastian at Tuchwerkstatt.de. I believe they do those kind of sails.
Tell him Robert from MOYA sent you.
https://tuchwerkstatt.de/media/page_...-islaborg5.jpg

[HudosonForce50]

Thank you all for the input! Fair winds ⚓️

[Bully]

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Originally Posted by HudosonForce50

Does anyone have any input on red/orange Dacron sails? I like the look.
No one seems to make them for larger sailboats, just hobbies and windsurfers.
White definitely loses its lust quickly.

We have made some red sails
But cloth is only in 6oz so ok to use up to 35' with a two ply leech

[lazydove]

Neil Pryde made tanbark sails. Held up very well on my Fisher motorsailer

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Bully

Attachment 291978

We have made some red sails
But cloth is only in 6oz so ok to use up to 35' with a two ply leech

SailRite has 9 ounce orange.
https://www.sailrite.com/Dacron-Storm-Orange-9-18oz-54

I intend to have a main made with the top of the sail about the deepest reef or the deepest two reef made using orange with white below.
And an orange storm jib.

[bailsout]

I have old Neil Pryde tan barks on my 1966 wooden H-28 modified ketch. I bought the set- main mizzen, genoa- used, for 300 bucks. I love the look. But thanks above for the explanation above of why dark fabrics and threads last longer. I have a boat cover that I made out of alternating panels of white and light green. The white panels are brittle and tear more readily than the green. And white thread seems to fail faster than black. Made no sense to me.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by HudosonForce50

Does anyone have any input on red/orange Dacron sails? I like the look.
No one seems to make them for larger sailboats, just hobbies and windsurfers.

Your question puzzles me. Replacement sails for larger sailboats are virtually all custom made. Most local sailmakers can provide you with colored sails depending on the availability of suitable sailcloth. Others here have responded with observations about availability of colored sailcloth. Have you asked a sailmaker what is available?

[Lazy Jack 32]

Originally Posted by HudosonForce50

Does anyone have any input on red/orange Dacron sails? I like the look.
No one seems to make them for larger sailboats, just hobbies and windsurfers.
White definitely loses its lust quickly.

I use tanbark (sort of rust colored) on my 32' Lazy Jack schooner. My son has them on his 23' Rob Roy yawl. My sails were made by Far East Sails in Hong Kong and his came from Precision Sails in Vancouver. We sail in the Finger Lakes of New York State. My brother has tanbark sails from Far East Sails on his Lazy Jack schooner on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. He takes passengers out for a living, and he's in the US Southeast, so his sails get much more sun exposure than ours up north. The colors of his sails fade quickly, and the sails lose their strength (i.e., they rip) much more quickly than ours. More quickly than white? I couldn't tell you.