UV Protection For Sails

[goldiphlox]

Is there something I can put on my sail to prolong its life and protect it from uv damage...im not talking about the sunbrella strip. I want to know if theres a good spray on uv protector for the dacron.

[Celestialsailor]

Not really...Sails usually last many years if rinsed occasionally and stored under a sunbrella sail cover. If your sail is showing signs of deterioration, maybe it's just old and needs replaced.

[rtbates]

I use the fabric 303 on my Sunbrella. Might work on dacron or one of the others

Amazon.com: aerospace protectant 303

[goldiphlox]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Not really...Sails usually last many years if rinsed occasionally and stored under a sunbrella sail cover. If your sail is showing signs of deterioration, maybe it's just old and needs replaced.

It's not old. It's brand new. I was just curious if there was something i should be doing to help prolong its life. I read in a thread that someone used something on their sails and now i cant find the thread.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by goldiphlox

It's not old. It's brand new. I was just curious if there was something i should be doing to help prolong its life. I read in a thread that someone used something on their sails and now i cant find the thread.

The best thing you can do is keep it dry and out of the sun. A yearly freshwater bath doesn't hurt a thing either. Sailing on the weekends, not racing, you'll be hard pressed to need much else to prolong the life of a sail.

[goldiphlox]

Good to know. Thanks

[sailorchic34]

Being a Cheap.. er.. that is frugal sailor, when I needed to replace the insignia cloth UV strip on my furring Jib I did a little research. In the end I painted the insignia cloth with an acrylic enamel from the big box store, as that is used on home built planes to protect the Dacron wing coverings from UV.

That was 4 months ago and so far its holding up pretty good. Total cost $12. well and a small roller and tray to apply the paint. Plus I could do it in gloss Fascia ;-)...

[Sailorman Ed]

[QUOTE=sailorchic34;1020322]Being a Cheap.. er.. that is frugal sailor, when I needed to replace the insignia cloth UV strip on my furring Jib I did a little research. In the end I painted the insignia cloth with an acrylic enamel from the big box store, as that is used on home built planes to protect the Dacron wing coverings from UV. Total cost $12. QUOTE]

Wow, I like this and you can add some color as well. Incidently, I know you can get rust stains (and not get them out), but can you dye a sail to get something other than white? Why is it that sail are only white (or tanbark)?

[senormechanico]

I recently replaced my jib with a triradial laminate.
I didn't want to mess up the sail's shape on the leech with Sunbrella, so I dutifully cover it each time I'm done sailing.
The sail cover is the length of the luff, has a halyard attachment, zipper the length of the luff and a width in excess of the diameter of the sail at the clew when it's furled.
There is a zigzag line running from top to bottom which when pulled, nicely cinches up the cover.
When it's pulled tight, and then held by a cam cleat on the lower end of the cover, it won't flog in the wind.
There's a pocket to hold the extra line.
It only takes a few minutes to install and remove.