Nine years ago, New York-based cruising sailor Larry Rouen needed to replace his 11-year-old Dacron sails. His Frers-designed Dawn 41 was not sailing well and constant sail repairs were becoming a bother. As a long-time sailor who has raced and cruised on many boats, he wanted performance oriented sails, but he needed sails that would last eight years since he was just about to put two children through college.
UK-Halsey�s answer was Tape-Drive sails with a Spectra base-fabric. The Spectra base laminate is reinforced with Kevlar or carbon fiber reinforced tapes. Not only have his sails lasted nine years so far, but he also won Huguenot Yacht Club�s 2005 championship with his fully battened main and roller furling genoa (shown above). Larry�s boat NEPENTHE goes out to race every Thursday night and daysails or cruises each weekend of the summer. His sails� extended life is not a result of light use.
�My genoa still has great shape and I�ve never had a large tear in either of the sails, �said Rouen. �My new (nine-year-old) sails are working well for their age.�
Larry is not alone in singing the praises of UK-Halsey�s Spectra Tape-Drive sails. Many sailors are getting similar long-lasting results from these sails. Spectra Tape-Drive sails do cost a lot more than Dacron sails, but they hold their shape better and are significantly lighter. Both lightness and shape holding are attributes that lead to faster and more comfortable sailing.
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