Sailcloth

I've seen several threads touting various makers etc, but not much consensus on virtues of different materials. I am new to cat sailing w/ a creampuff '86 H-17 and am diggin' it so far... but ready for some warm wind. (Cat sailing is darn COLD compared to windsurfing!)

Pentex looks intriguing, but I wonder about glare off that shiny surface being annoying. Windsurfing is hot on laminates like "X-ply" and "Cuben" for durability, draft stability and UV resistance. Some mylar sails are still being sold, but most people have thrown away enough of them to steer 'clear' (sorry) of them... like a UV bomb about to go off.

So what works and lasts?

CV

As far as materials go:

Dacron is the most durable and UV resistant, but it's stretchier than the film laminates like Pentex.

The problem with film sails (Mylar, Pentex, etc.) is that they hold creases and break down with flogging.

The stock 17 sail is a bit of a strange duck. State of the art at the time it was introduced (23 years ago), it's a taffeta - one side Dacron, the other Mylar. It works well enough, but it has delamination issues with age.

Whirlwind Sails makes a Pentex square top for the 17 that looks pretty sharp, but I don't know how well it works with the Comptip. (Square tops like a lot of leech tension - tough to get with the springy Comptip.) Of course, they aren't class legal for racing.

Whirlwind made a squaretop Pentex main for my 21SE, LOVE it. Dacron for the jib as it roller reefs. Nice job by Whirlwind, service, price, product, all excellent.