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Worth looking after certainly, but sail maintenance isn't just about money.
The main enemy is UV, which rots sails.
Spinnakers, which don't get so much exposure, can last for ages.
Other enemies include chafe, sub standard materials and poor storage Sail checks and maintenance UV protection A new suit of good quality sails should last 10 seasons, maintained correctly.
The sacrificial UV panel on your furling genoa needs replacing after three to five seasons.
Forget this and you'll be buying a new genoa instead.
Boom covers are made of the same materials used in UV protective panels.
They shouldn't have webbing strops outside because they rot.
Make sure your cover protects the whole main.
If you leave the head and clew poking out, the sail's strongest points are most exposed.
Always cover up.
After a few seasons in the sun, the fabric on zips tears easily and the stitching that holds them in place falls apart, leaving your main at risk.
Boom covers need enclosed zips and UV-stable material instead of webbing.
UV will rot zips and external webbing strops on your boom cover.
Pre-season sail checks Check the rotation of your furling system and make sure the panel is outside protecting your sail, not inside and useless.
During replacement, the head, tack and clew should be carefully checked and replaced if required because webbing also degrades in UV.
Watch out for poor replacements that cut the UV panel to fit around the rings and webbing, leaving the sail's strongest points unprotected.
Chafe protection Spreaders, shrouds, stanchions, pulpits, nav lights and mast hardware will at least chafe and potentially, snag and tear sails.
Cover the trailing edges of spreaders with PVC tubing, fit shroud terminal covers, tape around guardrail terminals and clip skirt wheels over the stanchion heads.
Identify chafe areas and take preventative measures.
Poor storage Like storm sails, the bigger numbers in a suit of headsails tend not to get out much.
Using all your headsails dries them out.
Mildew comes from airborne spores that emanate from wet, rural places.
The spores live and breed in the weave of the sail and if you bag them up still wet, the mildew grows.
Wash and air your sails regularly to avoid mildew, and winter them in a dry, ventilated space, out of the bag.
Once it's there, you'll need to get them laundered.
Halyard tension If your genoa halyard is too tight, you'll set off a chain of events that ends with a sail that needs recutting Don't overtighten halyards.
Pull them up enough to take out horizontal creases, that's enough.
And when you're leaving the boat for some time, slacken off the halyard.
Storm sails An essential part of any blue-water cruiser's wardrobe, but they spend most of the season bagged in a damp forepeak without daylight.
That's when the corrosion occurs and stains the sails.
The best plan to tackle staining is to use them every now and then.
The sun bleaches the stain, the wind dries the sail and using the hanks will clear much of the corrosion too.
And you'll learn how to fly storm sails.
Cheaper hanks corrode because the hank is bronze, the spring is plated steel and some cringles are nickel-plated.
Add saltwater and you have a galvanic cell.
That's why Crusader use stainless-steel springs and cringles.
Get your storm sails out a couple of times every season, clean the hanks with fresh water and work them to clear oxidisation.
Sail storage Take the long view and you may find the best storage solution is to send your sails off to your sailmaker.
They will have them laundered, give them the once-over, effect any repairs or preventative measures needed and keep them in their loft until you're ready for the next season.
Here's a tip remove all the battens and shackles, the fee charged by the laundry depends on the sail's weight.
Don't store sails at floor level.
Mice, rats and squirrels love Dacron Laminate cruising sails Cruising laminate sails are becoming more popular among cruisers.
These use the same scrim as racing sails, for better shape retention and strength, but instead of being covered in the'crisp bag' Mylarfilm racers use, cruising laminates use a Dacron/woven taffeta instead.
It makes the sail more durable and easier to handle.
Multi axial fibres mean you can choose cross-cut if radials look a bit too racy.
Spinnakers Check the tapes are still securely attached and that the webbing attaching the clews is in good order.
Check for holes against the light, usually at the clews and along the foot where the sail meets the stanchions, pulpit, nav lights, mast hardware.
Also check the tapes are securely stitched on all three sides.
FINAL CHECKS Add luff spectacles: These are two steel rings either end of a webbing strop, run through your main luff reefing cringles.
They give you better grip when reefing and www.
boatpartsdatabase.
com has lots of resources for the boating trade and public alike.
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