Genoa

for cruising sailboatscross-cutDacron®

UK Sailmakers' cross-cut Dacron sails - for cruising sailors whose main concerns are price and longevity. Dacron cross-cut sails have all the panels parallel to each other and perpendicular to the leech, fabrics with their greatest strength in the fill direction are used, to withstand the anticipated loading along the leech of the sail since the greatest loads in any sail are up and down the leech. Fill-oriented fabrics are used in cross-cut sails because the stronger fill yarns are parallel to the leech in a cross-cut layout. Cruising sailors choose Dacron sails for their all-around strength and good value. When longevity is the main concern, Dacron is the cloth of choice. Dacron is resistant to most types of wear that a sail experiences during its lifetime. Dacron sails have a fair amount of UV resistance, they are virtually unaffected by bending and folding forces and are resistant to chafe, which is convenient when it comes to overlapping genoas. Additional options such as the UV luff and foot covers for furling headsails can considerably prolong your sails life. The trade-off in choosing the longevity of Dacron is performance. While a Dacron sail will stay in one piece for many years, it starts losing its aerodynamic shape over time because polyester yarn is relatively stretchy compared to high tech yarns like aramid and carbon fiber.