DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

Hi all

I have a new Pentex main sail that looks very nice, we shall see how well it lasts ?

I need a new genoa, any ideas on the best material , I am not raceing but do want to sail well and for it ot last, My imediate thought is to us Pentex again, comments please.

Secondly my sail maker wants me to have vertical batens in the genoa, anyone with experience of these please comment.

My current genoa is Dacron, no good at all as it goes out of shape but it does have a foam luff for better shape reefed, is this a good idea with laminate sails ?
good sailing

buckle.roger wrote:Hi all

I have a new Pentex main sail that looks very nice, we shall see how well it lasts ?

I need a new genoa, any ideas on the best material , I am not raceing but do want to sail well and for it ot last, My imediate thought is to us Pentex again, comments please.

Secondly my sail maker wants me to have vertical batens in the genoa, anyone with experience of these please comment.

My current genoa is Dacron, no good at all as it goes out of shape but it does have a foam luff for better shape reefed, is this a good idea with laminate sails ?
good sailing

Pentex is a good choice. The only issue is that (like all laminates) it is subject to mildew. If you get the gray color Pentex it will not show mildew as much and will look more high-tech.

I have no experience with a vertical batten in the genoa, and don't understand the need. Multihull genoas are cut fairly flat. I have always had a foam luff strip in my Dragonfly sails, and I think that's been the standard for factory-furnished sails. All of them have been Pentex except my current sails which are Mylar/Aramid/Carbon-Fiber laminate scrim. (These are only one year old so I can't tell you how they will hold up).

Hi Larry

Thanks again for your advice.my sail maker tells me that with vertical batens he can put roach into the sail and gain more area ???? I am not sure if this is good or not

buckle.roger wrote:Hi Larry

Thanks again for your advice.my sail maker tells me that with vertical batens he can put roach into the sail and gain more area ???? I am not sure if this is good or not

Extra sail area is a good thing but in the genoa the extra power you add for reaching might be at the expense of reduced pointing ability. You should discuss with your sail maker and ask him, as I have learned that the wider the foot -- the further out from centerline the sheeting-point needs to be, and that means you can not point as high. If you sheet in too close the leech of the sail is less efficient and airflow off the genoa will back-wind the main -- causing it to be less effective. That is important on a tri because higher boat speed moves apparent wind forward and therefore when reaching you're always sailing fairly close-winded.

Also, with the high performance level of a tri you might find the extra sail area causes you to reef sooner (and reefing ruins sail shape). So other considerations include how often you sail in light air vs. strong winds in your home waters, and whether you own (or intend to buy) specialty light-air sails such as a screacher or asymmetric spinnaker.

I had a new pentex genoa and main made about three seasons ago for my 1000.
The Genoa has a little bit of mold on it, you can only notice if your within a foot of the sail. Main sail has none on it all.
My sail maker reduced the size of it to about 110%. Made a real big difference in upwind performace. Points like a monohull now!
We eliminated the vertical soft battens in the new sail.
The sails were a Randy Smyth design set of sails, manufactured by Saber Sails in Florida, USA.
Sails are a vertical cut design. Almost a "deck sweeper", clears the foredeck by on a few inches.
Give a shout if you have anymore questions.
This is my second set of Pentex sails now.
Ted

tpaliwoda wrote: Almost a "deck sweeper", clears the foredeck by on a few inches.

How many buoys have you hit?

Buoys - none, you know where they are. Fishing boats.....to many close calls, but that is the joy of sailing in New York harbor.

Thanks guys for the comments, I will talk some more with my sailmaker.

can anyone plse sell me a second hand genoa for a dragonfly 800? Am based in the UK, solent.

thanks Humphrey.

Hi Roger

Bought a new genoa a few years ago. It came with one long vertical battern. It is several meters long! It goes from about 1.5 m over deck, close to forstay, in a bend to aft of sail quite high up. It holds out the sail. So the sail has a curved aft and gains more area in this way. It works with the regular roll-in roll-out system. The sailmaker (http://gransegel.se/dragonfly.html) told me that it was quite a lot of thinking to get the right bend - so it works even semi rolled in.

I like this genoa.

I have a feeling that the boat is easier to handle, better balanced, with only genoa – than the previous jib. It was to small, I think. So this year I have started to sail in and out of ports with only genoa. It is nice to quiet glide in (or out) to port, no engine.

So a battern in genoa is great.

Christian