Author: webcraft

Grand Prix Regatta Race

webcraft racing
Grand Prix Regatta Race

Made in the latest ‘State of the Art’ Carbon fibre material GPL.  Carbon Fibre is a high modulus synthetic fibre made from carbon atoms.  It is largely unaffected by UV but can be very brittle as it becomes more ‘refined’.  Typically the stronger the Carbon fibres are, the more brittle the fibre is.  

Taffetas – Taffeta’s are a lightweight woven layer, that can be inserted into or added to the outside surface of the laminate.  The addition of a taffeta adds considerable strength to the stitching and seam joins and helps avoid the film of the laminate cracking at the hinge points.   Internal Taffetas don’t add the chafe resistance in the same way that external taffetas do, but they soak up less water, so they have other advantages.

Above all, Kemp Sail understand how to maximise a sail inventory with a combination of sails that give you the desired level of performance and with a longevity that is understood and that regularly exceeds expectations.

 

Regatta Race

webcraft racing
Regatta Race

Aramid (Kevlar, Twaron & Technora ) – has become the predominant fiber for racing sails. It is stronger, has a higher strength to weight ratio than steel, and has a modulus that is five times greater than PET, and about twice as high as PEN.

Kevlar, along with other aramid fibers, have poor UV resistance (Kevlar loses strength roughly twice as quickly in sunlight as PET) and rapid loss of strength with flexing, folding and flogging. Minimal flogging and careful handling can greatly extend the life of a Kevlar sail.

Twaron has a slightly lower modulus strength than Kevlar 29 but a slightly higher resistance to flex fatigue. The fiber’s lower UV resistance is enhanced by dying the naturally gold fiber black.

Club Race

webcraft racing
Club Race

Polyester (PET) & Pentex (PEN) – ‘Pentex’ is a chemical hybrid, developed from PET by Honeywell and it has up to 40% higher modulus strength than regular Polyester PET.  Kemp Sails recommend the PX BLACK (PXB) Line fabric – for that ‘Stealthy’ appearance.

velcro-fasten batten pockets

webcraft mainsail
velcro-fasten batten pockets

To hold the battens firmly in place with minimal weight and clutter at the leech, we use Velcro ‘hookand- loop’ flaps, whose hooks fasten to the loops on the insides of the pockets. The flaps are pushed in with a flat, glass fibre ‘prodder’, which also keeps the hooks and loops apart. Then, when the ‘prodder’ is withdrawn, the flaps attach themselves along their entire length, making it virtually impossible for the batten to escape by accident.

reef spectacles

webcraft mainsail
reef spectacles

The most difficult part of reefing can be forcing the luff cringle down over the tack horn – and then finding you’ve hooked it on upside-down. But there’s no struggling with a Kemp sail, thanks to our ‘reef spectacles’ – stainless steel rings on the end of a strong webbing strap which passes through the luff cringle. Hooking on is quick and easy, so you spend minimal time on deck.

battens

webcraft mainsail
battens

Two-ply batten pockets ensure no part of the batten is in direct contact with a load-bearing part of the sail. Tapered, glassfibre battens in Velcro-fastened pockets are standard on our Racing, Performance Cruising and Cruisemaster sails.

reefing points

webcraft mainsail
reefing points

Unless you have cockpit-controlled reefing, we can offer ‘reef spectacles’ on the luff cringles for easier attachment to the tack horn. And at the outer end of the boom, we leave the last few feet of the sail loose-footed, so you can loop the reefing lines between the boom and sail. See opposite for more detail of both these features.

loose foot at clew

webcraft mainsail
loose foot at clew

One of the most crucial elements in a neat reef is having the leech lines in the right place on the boom. Some older types of boom have attachment points on the bottom or side – but, if these aren’t accurately positioned in relation to the leech cringles, you’ll end up with an untidy, inefficient reef.

Our solution is to remove the bolt rope from the last few feet ahead of the clew slider, so you can pass the leech lines under the foot and secure them around the boom. This way, they’ll be able to slide to the best position automatically when the load comes on. Another example of simple, sensible solutions from Kemp.

Panel Layout

webcraft mainsail
Panel Layout

The sail’s size and aspect-ratio, plus your budget and intended use, determine whether we suggest a cross-cut or radial layout. Radial designs are more expensive because they’re more complex to make, and need specialised types of cloth (see separate page on radial sails)