Hobie Forums :: View topic - Sail window ripped, all cracked - plastic fatigue

I have unfurled older monofilm sails after months in storage only to have them fall apart! We all know UV exposure has a deleterious effect on monofilm but the windsurfers here were talking about this very same problem and there was unanimous agreement that monofilm degrades in time....anyway
its a wonderful material and noone wants to go back to dacron but the one limitation to M/F, we believe here, is age.

On a slightly unrelated topic...

Last week it got real windy the gusts were actually lifting the surface of the water up into the air and sending it downwind in great spumes!! We did launch on short boards and all we achieved were great speeds (no finesse!) a couple of the tenders on the big yachts flipped on their tethers and the yachties had to stay on board a while it was a bit too hazardous for them to launch into the offshore wind with their inflatables

Later on I talked with one of them and asked him what speeds he had recorded on his aenometer that day...30 knots, hitting 35 in the strongests gusts. I touched 30 knots board speed on my gps for about 4 seconds another guy 32.

I read with incredulity people that write posts in saying they sail their AI's in 30 knots of wind and have a ball!!!!!

Author:	Pirate [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:14 pm ]
Post subject:
Philip1el wrote: I have unfurled older monofilm sails after months in storage only to have them fall apart! We all know UV exposure has a deleterious effect on monofilm but the windsurfers here were talking about this very same problem and there was unanimous agreement that monofilm degrades in time....anyway its a wonderful material and noone wants to go back to dacron but the one limitation to M/F, we believe here, is age. On a slightly unrelated topic... Last week it got real windy the gusts were actually lifting the surface of the water up into the air and sending it downwind in great spumes!! We did launch on short boards and all we achieved were great speeds (no finesse!) a couple of the tenders on the big yachts flipped on their tethers and the yachties had to stay on board a while it was a bit too hazardous for them to launch into the offshore wind with their inflatables Later on I talked with one of them and asked him what speeds he had recorded on his aenometer that day...30 knots, hitting 35 in the strongests gusts. I touched 30 knots board speed on my gps for about 4 seconds another guy 32. I read with incredulity people that write posts in saying they sail their AI's in 30 knots of wind and have a ball!!!!! It' like The Dog says Phil, can't compare apples with oranges. But because AI's don't go at ludicrous speeds, doesn't mean you can't get a buzz out of them anyway if you sail them well in the stronger winds. Here is a short vid having fun last weekend here....Pirate http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ihjvbou4H4w

Author:	ottos [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:59 pm ]
Post subject:
Yakaholic wrote: A precut replacement sail window kit would be wonderful. My sail has a sticker "North Sails" on it. Why not try North Sails? http://www.na.northsails.com/ Cheers.

Author:	The Dog [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:58 pm ]
Post subject:
ottos wrote: Yakaholic wrote: A precut replacement sail window kit would be wonderful. My sail has a sticker "North Sails" on it. Why not try North Sails? http://www.na.northsails.com/ Cheers. North only does their 3DL membranes in the States... Everything else they do is either in India (North one design) or China (everything else). The AI sail ain't 3DL.

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