General Sail Care

During the Season 

At the end of any sail, may it be a three week cruise or a round the cans race, you have to decide how to store your sails until the next time. We are lucky that modern materials are resistant to moisture and salt crystals, and they can be left on the boat for the duration of the season without incurring unnecessary wear and tear. But if you do have the opportunity to rinse them in this period you should always take it. Salt holds moisture into the cloth, and the crystals will chafe the fibres. Also, glued sails degrade quickly when left wet in the bottom of the boat.

Sails made from any cloth are best rolled, as this does less damage to the cloth finish than the creasing that is inevitably involved in folding or flaking sails. Roller furler systems have this advantage, although it does mean the sail is left to the battering of the elements while it is up there, particularly sunlight. That's the importance of the sunstrip. If you leave the sail on the furler make sure you ease the halyard tension, otherwise you can permanently stretch the sail. You should never leave a sail on the furler unless it has a sunstrip fitted, even for one night. If you take your sails off the spars, roll them if at all possible, and get bags big enough that they don't need any further folding. If they are stored down below, politely ask your crew and guests to avoid sitting or standing on them as much as possible!

The one sailcloth material that is badly affected by moisture is nylon; it loses strength and changes shape when wet. Because sails take longer to dry when salty, the best treatment for a nylon spinnaker is to take it home each time and rinse it on the drive or lawn. Alternatively, leaving the sail loose out of the bag in the forepeak is the next best thing. Don't hang sails in the rigging to dry them, unless it is completely calm - the flogging does more damage than leaving them wet! Incidentally, none of the materials like excessive heat, so avoid leaving them in a car in the middle of the summer. 

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