# Mylar sail care?



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Hi all,

I just purchased a Vanguard (Laser) Pico and it has mylar sails. Anything special about caring for mylar sails? Are they OK for high winds? Should they be folded or stored a certain way? Are they better than dacron?

Thanks in advance,


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

First of all mylar sails should never be folded. To extend their life they should be carefully rolled so that the Battens stay parrallel to the roll. As much as posible they should be stored in a cool dark place. You should never walk or kneel on the sail of you can avoid it. You should avoid flogging the sail as much as posible. 

Now then before you over react to the above, all of that advice applies to sails of any fabric that is light enough to use on a small boat.

Mylar produces a light, low stretch sail that is ideal for small boats. Today, it is a durable material. If you take proper care of it properly it will outlast conventional dacron as a racing sail material. Of course there''s the rub. Once Mylar is used up, you won''t have a ''white triangle'' left to make you think you have a sail. 8^)

Jeff


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Mylar Sails*

I could not disagree more with the statement that Mylar sails, with proper care, will outlast dacron sails. I race a Hobie 20' with a Mylar main and it has to be replaced every 3 / 4 years (if I am lucky). They satrt to delaminate and that is the end of them
Ralph


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

3/4 years on a race sail is SEVERAL LIFETIMES  

I have and and early J24 paneled Mylar 150 (its got threads in the Mylar ?) from 1992 ? that is soft as hell and full of FUZZ  still holds a good enough shape for day sailing and its gets used 2 to 3 times a week


My race 150 is a newer  version of the same material and it is a PITA compare the the Pentex ones they use now BUT will stand much more abuse in terms of punctures and chafe

I am NOT liking the jump the J24 just made to Kevlar and the almost ready 3DL


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

*That is the point*



rquesada said:


> I could not disagree more with the statement that Mylar sails, with proper care, will outlast dacron sails. I race a Hobie 20' with a Mylar main and it has to be replaced every 3 / 4 years (if I am lucky). They satrt to delaminate and that is the end of them
> Ralph


I believe Jeff's point was that mylar sails - as racing sails for a small boat- would last longer as good racing sails than a set of dacron sails would. You race with a mylar sail for 3/4 years. If you used a dacron sail, it would probably lose its optimal shape in the first season, and not perform well for racing in its second season. You'd still have a nice, white dacron triangle whose stiching might hold up for ten or more years, but guys with newer sails would pass you. We sailed a Soling for many years. In order to stay competitive we needed a new dacron jib every season, and a new main every other season. We ended up with enough dacron to wrap a house. We all agreeement that mylar sails delaminate and disintigrate after losing their shape. (Happened to me once during a race - we ran out of ripstop and started using duct tape.) The question is how long mylar holds its racing shape compared to dacron. Your answer: 3/ 4 years -- shows that mylar lasts about 3 or 4 times longer than dacron.


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## roline (Apr 7, 2000)

My 525 came with a dacron-mylar laminated light 155. It was old 4-5 yrs of use. While I had it up, the wind piped up to 8 knots and the sail started to delaminate and streach. The sail should of been able to stand up to 8 knots, but it was 4-5- yrs old. My Cal 9.2 has a mylar carbon fibre laminate 135 that has seen lots of use and is getting a little frayed on the very edges of the panels but still has good shape and no serious delamination. It powers the boat well in 14-22knots. Its over 5 yrs old. The newer materials are more durable than the first laminated mylar versions and minimize flogging the sails, the leach was the first to go.


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

For a small boat, you have no reason NOT to roll your sails. Big PVC pipe on the side of the trailer will hold the sails nicely while in transit. Rolling sails is the best way to take care of them, period. It's just a royal PITA to store something 15' long and 1' in diameter. 

Second best is flaking them, only do this if you don't have the room to store them rolled. Flaking is just loosly folding the sail like a fan or an accordian. Then loosly roll the 'fan' and put into a large bag. 

Keep your mylar dry, mylar laminates LOVE mildew. On a Laser, bring a towel to wipe them off if they get rain or sea spray on em before you flake/roll.


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## blt2ski (May 5, 2005)

A lot of folks with smaller boats like the different Vanguard boats will have "Race" and "practice" sails. The race sails being the mylar, the practice being a basic dacron. 

But as mentioned, the newer mylar sails are being made much better than older one, will hold there shape way longer in the terms of hrs, times used etc than dacron before they "go"! 3 of my 6 sails for my 30' Jeanneau are mylar based, one is a dac/mylar 110, 2 are nylon based, ie a spin and a 130 drifter reacher for winds under 5-6 knots. 

Marty

Now that I posted this, I am realizing the OP and Jeffs posts are from 2002!


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