J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum One Design Class Rules Mainsail Material - is Hood VECTRAN legal?

I was reading the Hood sails website about VECTRAN

Is this a legal fabric under the class rules?
5.12.1.2 Mainsail shall be manufactured from woven ply polyethylene terephthalate ("PET"), such as Dacron®, or woven ply polyethylene naphthalate ("PEN"), such as Pentex®. The spinnaker shall be manufactured from woven ply nylon.

and

5.12.2.1 Minimum cloth weight is 6.25 oz.

The reason I ask, is I saw a three year old well used main on a C&C35 I was sailing on this past weekend and the sail looked in pretty good shape. It looks like Dacron with a gauze woven in to hold its shape.

Vectran® is a high-performance multifilament yarn spun from liquid crystal polymer (LCP). So not PET or PEN, therefore not legal.
http://www.vectranfiber.com/engineering_introduction.asp

Vectran is not Class legal for a Mainsail. However, it is legal for headsails.

larry Christy
Class Measurer

Thanks for the info. I'm doing some research on potential "longer life" materials to use for a main. It would be a beer can and cruising sail. This would be a method to extend the life of the Dacron sail for OD racing. I want to use slugs to flake over the boom for convenience of every day use. I'll post the results of the research on the forum.

Note that this isn't an attempt to start an "arms war" with a better sail for OD racing, merely to come up with a sail that performs well over a longer lifespan. If anyone has experience with different mainsail materials that provide extended life, please let me know.

Since you asked,
"If anyone has experience with different mainsail materials that provide extended life, please let me know".

I'd be happy to tell you about my, now 5+ year old, Kevlar with Carbon tape main that keeps on winning but you'd rather hear about my 26 year old Dacron main that isn't worth racing after a year or two but is still usable. How about canvass, I hear that's pretty durable.

Two seasons ago I bought a NorDac NSP Premium main 7.8 ... looks bullet proof ... but it is back at North to be recut because it stretched out to the bands. In its defense ... Vee Jay is out 2-3 times a week for nearly 8 months during the season ... and we had a record windy winter on the Gulf.

From what I am seeing it appears we have to figure that dacron mains are going to have to be recut at three years for heavy cloth, two for light. Previous main lasted 7 years, but day sailing only out of Newport. It is "delivery" only status now.

I automatically kick the sail cloth weight up one notch from whatever North initially recommends.

Also go full battens and loose foot. Something about those full battens that keeps the sail looking good [or OK] as it ages.

I have a Quantum pentex main that Steve Thurston built for me about three years ago. It is full-battened and loose-footed. It also has slugs. It is a great sail. The full battens really help the sail hold its shape in heavy weather. I had him put two reef points in but have never had to use the second set. We sailed the Bud Humphrey race a couple of weekends ago with winds in the high 20s and we had great speed with one reef and a #2 genny. Boats all around us were flogging their mains but we just kept plowing into huge waves with lots of power and good sail shape. Falcon used a full main with a #3 and had excellent speed, too. I would buy another Pentex main in a New York minute. Give Steve a call. I couldn't be happier with the design of the sail or the service that he provides. Tell him I sent you.

Bob Rude
Mmmmm
#352

Bob - thanks for the input. Do you know what weight the sailcloth is on your main? Also - is the the first time you've has a main like this? I'm really interested in longevity for every day use and PHRF racing.

update on my "recut" of the 7.8 Nordac main. North decided to change the head board to a shorter one ... to in effect shorten the luff ... Charged $215. and took all summer ... but then that is a Naples sail so I got free storage for 3 months... they had it ready when I needed it to drive back south this weekend.

But let me tell you I have two "normal weight" mains from Vee Jay 2 packed away and a 7.8 oz main is a lot heavier to heave around in the bag ... no wonder it doesn't blink in 35 kt gusts.