june/july 2018cruisingworld.com77recommend using a fairly bal-
anced weave Dacron, with big
yarns in both the warp and fi ll
direction, especially if sailing
in high-UV areas. The sails
will last much longer.
“If the budget allows, then
a performance upgrade would
be to make triradial sails in
either a cruise laminate or a
warp-oriented Dacron, which
is now also available. Triradial
construction provides
better shape-holding control
as opposed to cross-cut
construction because the
fabric threads are more in
line with the loads out of the
corners of the sails. If sailing in
high-humidity areas, we would
recommend the warp-oriented
Dacron over a cruise laminate
because it is less likely to be-
come mildewed. The upcharge
for going to triradial over
cross-cut is approximately 25
percent.”
If you have an eye on
performance, and a larger sail
budget, consider going with a
more high-tech option. Mason
recommends North’s line of
3Di sails, which are molded as
one piece instead of stitched
together. “With 3Di sails, we
can align fi bers in the sail in
the exact load-bearing direc-
tions seen in square-top and
high-roach sails. This is not
achievable with paneled sails
because there will still be high
off-axis loads using paneled
sailcloth.”
As with most things, the
devil is in the details. For
sailors coming from a mono-
hull background, Mason
points out some of the
things to keep in mind when
purchasing sails for a cruising
multihull: “Due to the high
righting moment, the sails
should be overbuilt versus
typical monohull sails. The
base material might be 50
percent stronger than a mono-
hull of the same size. Corner
rings and webbings need to
be upsized as well. Seaming
in paneled sails needs heavier
thread and more rows. Battens
need to be stiffer and more
durable. Do not skimp on bat-
tens, because the mainsails are
heavy with a large roach that
needs to be supported. Battenangles should be optimized for
easy fl aking, and square-top
sails should have a detachable
head carriage. Furthermore,we recommend chafe protec-
tion on batten pockets for
shrouds and lazy jacks.”
For headsails, many cruisingcats have self-tacking jibs,
which are a good choice for
boats with shorthanded crews,
but at a cost of performance.
These sails are typically tall
and thin, and can develop too
much twist at the top once
the course sailed is past a close
reach. Sometimes vertical
battens are added to help this.
As for a genoa, Mason recom-
mends that “the sail be built
as large as possible because
most cruising boats are under-
powered, but it should have a
higher clew for good visibility. ”
Both sailmakers suggested
adding an off-wind sail, if
the boat doesn’t have one
already. Yourieff recommends
a screacher set to fl y on a low-
stretch torque luff rope on a
furler with a UV cover so it
can be left hoisted and rolled
while cruising. “This sail willadd considerable performance
to the boat in lighter winds
and when sailing off the wind
in heavier air.”
Mason adds that “nylon
sails should not have UV
covers because the material
stretches at different rates,
making for a poor-looking
sail. If you require a UV cover
to be left up and stored, the
sail should be low-stretch or
a laminate equivalent. If your
boat does not have a bow-
sprit, we would recommend a
free-fl ying G-2 gennaker that
can be fl own from centerline
or from the windward hull to
get lower angles.”
Whether your boat is a
high-performance rocket or
just retiring from charter duty,
adding new sails will improve
performance and make your
cat or trimaran easier and
more fun to sail.Jennifer Brett is CW’s senior editor.The sail plan on this Bavaria Nautitech Open 40 is typical
of many cruising cats these days: high-roach main with full
battens, a self-tacking jib and a downwind sail on a continu-
ous-line furler (top). Off the wind, a screacher or asymmet-
ric spinnaker fl ies off the bowsprit. To improve sail shape,
consider swapping cross-cut for triradial construction.Do not skimp on
battens. They need
to be stiff because
the mainsails are
heavy with a large
roach that needs to
be supported.BILLY BLACK; COURTESY OF JON FITCH (OPPOSITE BOTTOM)