sun damage on sails?

[jimbeall]

I was thinking about wiping down my mono film sails with a uv blocker, ie, Armor All or Turtlewax super protectant. I recall yrs ago everyone said be careful, don't get the stuff on your seams as it will rot the stitchings. I know the sun rots the sails after all, Rio Vista Sign has multiple storeage tents every summer to protect sails. So why not wipe down the sails? I have already had a few sail become milky and fail, why not try to extend sail life?

[sundowner]

This is just a guess, but the sail cloth may not be able to stand up to such chemicals. They could ultimately prove to damage your sails far quicker than the sun ever could. I'd contact the sail maker and shoot them the question, see what they think.

[isobars]

303 Aerospace Protectant, available at car and RV accessories stores, is made to shield plastics, including monofilm and sailcloth and dry suit latex cuffs, from uv. I applied it to all my new sails in the '90s, but haven't bothered with the last few quivers. I probably should have, but sorta forgot about it. I've seen no hard proof that it works, just many claims from pros that it is the best uv shield on the market, but what the heck do I know? Guess I should go Protect my sails today; it doesn't take much time or effort.

\m/

[89Spring]

303 Aerospace is what you want like earlier said. What you want to do is what that product was made for also like earlieer said i dont know if it actually works. I've never used it on any sails of any kind but did use it on a RIB to protect the Hypalon tubes from the carriebean sun. The tubes stayed cleaner for longer but also were very slippy. with out 303 could walk down the tube no prob then with 303 it was pretty sketchy. I just got a new quiver last summer and I'm taking care of these new sails. I have no monofilm sails because they just breakdown to quick. I rinse each whole rig after a session with fresh water and let dry completly before putting away out of the sun.

[jam-1]

Might be kind of a pain in the *ss, but why not just cover them up when they are on land? I believe this is what some of the pros have done when they have multiple sails rigged on the beach. It is basically a large triangular blanket with elastic on the corners to wrap over the mast base, mast tip, and boom end to cover and keep them from blowing away. This might be a somewhat simple solution...

[keycocker]

We stay rigged at the beach year round in a trash building made from drift lumber.Covering them in the wind made them more unstable as gusts got under the whole thing if we didn't stake it and was a real pain and not that dark under there. Neal Pryde told us years ago that mono was good for 300 hrs of sun whether you sail or not. They also said if there is enough light to read in your storage then the sails are being damaged.
Tom at Hot Sails said the Xply they use can take lot more hours of sun than 300 but not how much.
My sailboat guy says that 303 really works but forms such a thin film that dinghies and windsurf sails lose it quickly and we are kidding ourselves if we don't reapply it every few sessions. I finally gave up after my rag got sand on it and scratched the sails.

[caribwnd]

For what it is worth-I owned and operated a windsurf rental on Margarita for years and being only 10 degrees from the equator here the sun is hell on the monofilm of sails-degrading it in less than one season.
We took to using the Aerospace 303 product and our sails (when using the product) lasted up to three times longer than untreated sails did.
But you should re-apply it to both sides at least once a month.
You have to wash and dry the sails with fresh water and a mild detergent (we used dish soap) then apply the protectant to BOTH sides of the sail with a soft cloth. The U.V. protectant we found makes the monofilm slightly cloudy but that is better than toasted and broken.
We found no damage whatsoever to stitching or the non-monofilm parts of the sail. Note that we did not apply it to the non monofilm parts as they really are not affected as much as the monofilm.
I am a sailmaker and have seen thousands of sun-roasted sails in my days and highly recommend either the 303 Aerospace protectant or Amour-All (I believe they are the same chemical composition)
But as someone wrote-there is nothing better than keeping them out of the sun-get yourself a rig bag or a cheap blue plastic tarp if you spend a lot of the time sunning your equipment.
If you live in the tropics you should probably use some uv protectant for your own self too!!!!!!!!!!

[faradroka1]

i believe east bay SOP is:

1. roll up the sail
2. put in back of truck


how many people out there are really looking through their sails? or is it a cosmetic concern?

I'd worry more about this ->

had a pathologist windsurf buddy from OHSU and we hit rowena one day, he saw me putting in contacts. Said there is a freshwater parasite that will eat your cornea in just a few hours if trapped between the contact lense and your eye.

from: http://human-infections.suite101.com/article.cfm/acanthamoeba_eye_parasite

Though the natural environment for Acanthamoeba spp. is moist decaying organic material, at least six different species are capable of feeding on living tissue. Given the chance, these amoebae will invade human tissues and cause disease—the most common way that they do this is through the cornea of an eye from a contact lens. The destruction of the cornea, acanthamoeba keratitis, can result in the need for corneal transplant, and sometimes even surgical removal of the eye.

-cheers
dt

[isobars]

[btbill]

Glad I only sail in saltwater!