FABRICS
Many of the cloths that we stock are made from High tenacity Polyester (PET). Polyester cloth offers our customers an affordable, yet highly developed material with great strength, UV resistance and durability. We aim to source most of our cloths from 4 primary suppliers: Dimension Polyant, Bainbridge, Challenge and Contender Sailcloth. We use these suppliers as we believe they have a consistent quality in the cloth’s flatness, dimensional stability, and a reduced quantity of weaving flaws, allowing us to maintain our manufacturing consistency.
When designing your sail, choosing the right fabric is key to get the most out of your Kemp Sails, consequently, we put fabric choice right at the forefront of design discussions. To help you make the most informed fabric choice we are always happy to send samples of the fabrics we are discussing with you, to allow you to be able to see and feel the different weaves that are on the market.
KEY TERMS
| Polyester : | For decades been the most commonly used sail fiber because it is strong, durable and relatively inexpensive. igh shrinkage, combined with very tight weaving, produces sailcloth which is tightly packed and stable without having to rely on on adding excess (and less durable) resins for stabity. Polyester fabric is used both as stand-alone woven cloth and as a component in laminates. Polyester yarn is quite resistant to UV damage |
| Dacron : | This is a commonly used term regarding woven Sailcloth. It is in fact a trade name of DuPont who used to make a Polyester sailcloth yard called Dacron. As DuPont no longer make sailcloth yarn anymore Dacron does not actually exist! |
| Vectran® : | An aromatic polyester fibre, synthesized from naphthalene and ethylene glycol that boasts high strength, stability and prevention of creep. |
| Ultra-PE : | Ultra-PE is the generic name for the family of yarns that includes Spectra and Dyneema. |
| Fibercon® : | A polyester fibre manufactured by Contender within the EU to EU standards |