Brad White Delivers Seminar on Sails for Cruising & Racing

On May 10th about 30 members listened as Brad White of North Sails took them on a tour of what is happening in the world of sail design and materials and also touched on strategies to make your current sails last longer and trim easily. Brad shared his experience of twenty-six years in sail making and repair. He described the evolution of cotton into the early years of Dacron and Ted Hood's breakthrough creation of the tightest weave for that era, a product which allowed sails to retain their shape under more conditions and over a longer period of time. Next was an explanation of newer materials including Spectra, Kevlar and carbon combined with ever more durable laminates, each with differing levels of strength and performance and attributes that fit better for the long distance cruiser, club racer or grand prix program. Brad pointed out that all the materials from the different producers are of an excellent quality.

Today much of the emphasis appears to be on the technology of shaping the sail as it is built. Attendees got an inside look at North Sail's 3DL construction method where sails are built to specific shapes on huge beds that are pre-shaped for the particular boat and wind conditions. One of the constraints of 3DL has been that sails for boats smaller than about 30 feet cannot be properly shaped using the 3DL technology. However, Brad diagrammed a newer method referred to as 3Dr, making use of a drum to shape the sails for medium sized yachts all the way down to one-design boats.

Brad discussed the method of manufacturing one of these new sails for John Bradley's 25-foot Frolic.