WindSUP Sails

[beaglebuddy]

ittiandrobars?

[ittiandro]

[ittiandro]

[swchandler]

Quite honestly, other than the Hot Sails Maui Superfreak, I can't recollect a fully dacron sail made in the 90s. Take a picture of it and post it. I'm very interested in seeing it. No doubt, we will all benefit from seeing what you got.

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Good point ittiandro.

In the days before fragile monofilm took over (and the prices stayed the same) my favourite sail construction was Dacron (fully battened, of course) with a shiny Mylar coating on one side only .It looked a bit odd, but the Mylar prevented the Dacron from stretching and bulging out with middle age spread.

Those sails were certainly more durable than many flimsy thin lightweight monofilm offerings, and they also had a distinctive feel to their performance. I wish modern sails were available in that constuction method!

[gregnw44]

[ittiandro]

[gregnw44]

Nice pics !!
And no, you're right... I'm wrong.
As I said in my post... "I think" the Garda is a Mylar sail.
But looking at these pics (and your description... no shiny side)... it is Dacron!

Interesting that you say NP confirms this sail is from the early 90's. May I ask "who" confirmed that?

Cause here's what I'd say.

I suppose it is possible this is an early 90's sail. But I'm skeptical. The panel layout and the Dacron sail and the vinyl plastic window all suggest mid to late 80's... maybe as late as 1990.

Anyway, I bought my first Mylar sails in '87 (and they were available before that). They were Gaastra's.
And NP certainly had sail models, made from mylar. But it's also likely, they still made some Dacron sail models as well.
However, by '92 - '95... I doubt any of the brands still made Dacron only sails.
In fact, as I said, you'd hardly see mylar sails by then. Cause everyone had gone to monofilm (certainly by around '95).

Anyway, none of this matters very much, LOL

You have a nice old, light 6.2 sail there. There is only 4 battens... and they are very light (and NOT stiff) battens... you should leave then in the sail. I doubt you'll notice any performance increase in 5 mph wind by taking out the middle two (although you could certainly test against other sailors).

It's funny, cause on the one hand... the seller of this sail was VERY lucky to get $50 for it
But on the other hand, for a novice-intermediate guy learning and sailing in wind under 10 knots or 12 mph... this sail will have very good value... and is worth more than a heavy, modern 6.2 that is meant for high-wind planning !!

This sail is a "short-boom" sail, which will be easy to handle. It's tall by modern norms, and will take a 460 mast with probably at least 15-30 cm of mast extension. A longer boom-ed sail... yet still old and light... 6.2 would have slightly better, "(very) low wind performance" for longboards or hybrids. But when it's gets windier the Garda will be easier to handle.

Yes, when the Dacron is very worn, it will hold water... but big deal... it's only a 6.2. It would be more much noticeable if it was a 11M size.

Regarding "what are other old, light, good, light-wind longboard (WindSUP, Hybrid) sails ???
There are a million, like the other's have said.
From '85 to '95 there were 100 different windsurfing sail makers. And most of them offered 10 - 20 different sail design lines.
Anything you find, from between these years, will be fine for sailing very light wind, up to 10 knots. Actually, they're fine for some basic moderate high-ish wind too, just rig a smaller size.
Gotta go... I'm out for a few days!
Greg

[ittiandro]

[swchandler]

ittiandro,

Great research, and I think that the time is right ('91-'94). From an information standpoint, I also think you have everything you need. The sail will have a higher level COE, being a sail design that existed before leech looseness and progressive twist were refined into sail design. Still though, NPs often included a leech tensioner line where you could tighten the leech if you want to. During that time mast tracks on boards were considerably forward, where there was arguably more rake possible, and a higher COE went hand in hand. The boards of the time also had wide point forward, along with more volume forward too, with thinner and narrower tails.

The only thing missing from the research is the technology of the sail fabrics. Nevertheless, my Windwing Sails from 1991 were built with similar composite fabrics. They definitely weren't dacron like in the late 70s and early 80s, and the composite design offered very good low stretch characteristics.

From your photos, I think that you'll get some good time with this sail. Also, sails of the time weren't so mast sensitive as they are today. If I recollect correctly, NP was more constant curve rather than flex top oriented ones. Norths and Windwings of the time were true flex tops, and I still have a couple of Powerex Red Carbon masts from '91-'92 that matched my Windwing Race Sails of the time. In fact, I still have the 4.2 and 4.7 Races in storage, and the latter one is sprayed with tar from sailing at IV the first day I used it. It's nice having a bit of history from great times.