^Rick
Roger's new head sail furler " Any Pics" !
-
pokerrick1
- Admiral
- Posts: 2269
- Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 7:20 pm
- Sailboat: Venture 23
- Location: Las Vegas, NV (Henderson, near Lake Mead)
-
delevi
- Admiral
- Posts: 2184
- Joined: Fri May 06, 2005 1:03 am
- Location: San Francisco Catalina 380, former 26M owner
- Contact:
Terry,
As far as Pentex, it all depends on your wind range. If you frequently see winds over 15 kts, it's an excellent choice. The shape holding ability of these sails is remarkable. Of course, it'll cost you. As far as longevity, you have to consider several things. Most light dacron sails will blow out long before the actual cloth breaks down from UV. Basically it stretches out to the point where the sail is nearly useless. The beauty of the high-tech tri-lam sails is their resistance to stretching. Quantum doesn't really know how long their Fusion X sails last, since they have only been around a few years. My hunch is that the K-H pentex sail is lighter duty than my Q sails, which is ok with me, since I just ordered a genoa. When I receive it, I'll let you know how it compares. The price is significantly less than Q. As for the North (Norlam) I actually considered these sails. They were intially a bit less money than the Q sails, until the Q-rep made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Basically got them for the same price as the Norlam, but much more sail for the buck. Here is the difference.
Fusion X: Milar sail with pentex grids evenly distributed throughout the sail, not jus the load path as with UK-Tapedrives. The milar & pentex is then enclosed by two layers of Tafeta (very light Dacron.) My theory is these exterior layers will give the sail much longevity with the strenght of dacron and the stretch resistance of the mylar/pentex.
Norlam: Same sail without the pentex grids. Probably heavier Mylar. If it's the same money, it's a no-brainer in my opinion. The Q-pentex are close to the North 3-DL which is their top of the line sail, but very expensive and not available for masts under 40 feet.
Back to K-H. If their pentex sail is reasonably comparable to the Q sails, it's a great way to go. Priced at half of what the Q sails retail for. I didn't pay retail, but couldn't get the price today that I paid last year.
OTOH, you will probably be very happy with the C2000 line, especially if your prevalent conditions are moderate. Either way, it is truly difficult to discern how much added benefit one gets from high-end sails on a Mac. Personally, I think there is plenty, but I have to contend with 20-35 knots wind on a regular basis. If I didn't, I would probably go with a nice quality set of Dacron sails. Just my 5 cents worth.
On edit:
One more thing to think about if you are seriously considering the pentex sails. You will be virtually forced to also get some sort of sail handling system, like the dutchman or lazy jacks. The sail has plenty of volue (it's thick) and would be hard to manage on the boom. The dutchman takes care of this and actually works really well with this type of sail, however, you're talking about anothe $600 and it is a sail loft job. Not sure if K-H does this sort of work... I'm sure Art would tell you. Hopefully you recall the pics I posted of my mainsail on the boom. I would re-post, but I took everything down due to you know who.
Leon
As far as Pentex, it all depends on your wind range. If you frequently see winds over 15 kts, it's an excellent choice. The shape holding ability of these sails is remarkable. Of course, it'll cost you. As far as longevity, you have to consider several things. Most light dacron sails will blow out long before the actual cloth breaks down from UV. Basically it stretches out to the point where the sail is nearly useless. The beauty of the high-tech tri-lam sails is their resistance to stretching. Quantum doesn't really know how long their Fusion X sails last, since they have only been around a few years. My hunch is that the K-H pentex sail is lighter duty than my Q sails, which is ok with me, since I just ordered a genoa. When I receive it, I'll let you know how it compares. The price is significantly less than Q. As for the North (Norlam) I actually considered these sails. They were intially a bit less money than the Q sails, until the Q-rep made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Basically got them for the same price as the Norlam, but much more sail for the buck. Here is the difference.
Fusion X: Milar sail with pentex grids evenly distributed throughout the sail, not jus the load path as with UK-Tapedrives. The milar & pentex is then enclosed by two layers of Tafeta (very light Dacron.) My theory is these exterior layers will give the sail much longevity with the strenght of dacron and the stretch resistance of the mylar/pentex.
Norlam: Same sail without the pentex grids. Probably heavier Mylar. If it's the same money, it's a no-brainer in my opinion. The Q-pentex are close to the North 3-DL which is their top of the line sail, but very expensive and not available for masts under 40 feet.
Back to K-H. If their pentex sail is reasonably comparable to the Q sails, it's a great way to go. Priced at half of what the Q sails retail for. I didn't pay retail, but couldn't get the price today that I paid last year.
OTOH, you will probably be very happy with the C2000 line, especially if your prevalent conditions are moderate. Either way, it is truly difficult to discern how much added benefit one gets from high-end sails on a Mac. Personally, I think there is plenty, but I have to contend with 20-35 knots wind on a regular basis. If I didn't, I would probably go with a nice quality set of Dacron sails. Just my 5 cents worth.
On edit:
One more thing to think about if you are seriously considering the pentex sails. You will be virtually forced to also get some sort of sail handling system, like the dutchman or lazy jacks. The sail has plenty of volue (it's thick) and would be hard to manage on the boom. The dutchman takes care of this and actually works really well with this type of sail, however, you're talking about anothe $600 and it is a sail loft job. Not sure if K-H does this sort of work... I'm sure Art would tell you. Hopefully you recall the pics I posted of my mainsail on the boom. I would re-post, but I took everything down due to you know who.
Leon
Last edited by delevi on Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
pokerrick1
- Admiral
- Posts: 2269
- Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 7:20 pm
- Sailboat: Venture 23
- Location: Las Vegas, NV (Henderson, near Lake Mead)
-
Highlander
- Admiral
- Posts: 5995
- Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:25 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Maccutter26M 2008 75HP Merc. 4/S Victoria BC. Can. ' An Hileanto'ir III '
- Contact:
-
Highlander
- Admiral
- Posts: 5995
- Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:25 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Maccutter26M 2008 75HP Merc. 4/S Victoria BC. Can. ' An Hileanto'ir III '
- Contact:
-
Highlander
- Admiral
- Posts: 5995
- Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:25 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Maccutter26M 2008 75HP Merc. 4/S Victoria BC. Can. ' An Hileanto'ir III '
- Contact:
-
Highlander
- Admiral
- Posts: 5995
- Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:25 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Maccutter26M 2008 75HP Merc. 4/S Victoria BC. Can. ' An Hileanto'ir III '
- Contact:
-
delevi
- Admiral
- Posts: 2184
- Joined: Fri May 06, 2005 1:03 am
- Location: San Francisco Catalina 380, former 26M owner
- Contact:
OK, back on topic. My latest mod/tweak to the CDI furler works quite nicely. Basically, a small 4:1 block & tackle system is installed at the base of the furler, just above the drum, used to tension the furler's internal halyard. The tack of the headsail is shackled directly to the furler's shackle, and the other shackle for the halyard is shackled to the block & tackle which stays there. The end of the haylard is attached or unattached to the block & tackle. This allows to ease halyard tension when sail is furled, add tension when ready to sail, or really crank it down if it's windy. Just a quick pull of the line adds ample tension with the 4:1 purchase, and the block is self-cleating via v-jam. The blocks are tiny and don't interfere with anything. The excess line from the block & tackle just gets wrapped above the drum, covering the blocks, thus preventing any unnecessary friction between the sail & hardware.
This simple system may open up more options for those shopping for a furler (like Terry) to be able to save some money and go with the Mac Furler or CDI vs. more costly options. Also a nice thing to have for most of us who already have the CDI. If anyone is interested in pics, let me know and I'll take some next time out on the boat. I tested it out and it works great.
Happy Holidays!
Leon
This simple system may open up more options for those shopping for a furler (like Terry) to be able to save some money and go with the Mac Furler or CDI vs. more costly options. Also a nice thing to have for most of us who already have the CDI. If anyone is interested in pics, let me know and I'll take some next time out on the boat. I tested it out and it works great.
Happy Holidays!
Leon
-
Highlander
- Admiral
- Posts: 5995
- Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:25 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Maccutter26M 2008 75HP Merc. 4/S Victoria BC. Can. ' An Hileanto'ir III '
- Contact:
