R Speculation

I'm not even sure it is expense, Dacron used to attract a heavy import duty of 12-14% as against mono film which is a none woven fabric (it's the fact weaving is involved it's an old duty to protect the mill owners from back in the day when we wove stuff here).

As to what they're doing, you have so many silly controls with all your pulling and pushing in different directions, I know shaped technical laminates don't like to change shape as much as Dacron will put up with, especially if you don't have those wire things to hold the rig still, then again they managed it after a fashion with the 100, but didn't that have bigger battens? I forget. Martin Wdhams told me why they did it, it was obvious at the time, I didn't question it and it didn't seem important, dacron is probably lighter than the cheaper alternative, mono film anyway, it's a sail, the boat is well priced who even cares?

Our Raceboard sails only really have the one control, which is downhaul and luff curve mismatch to get the sail to twist from a certain point, but designing a sail to do what you want in dinghies using just luff curve is a largely forgotten art for windsurf sail builders, since windsurfing these days is pretty much a planing only sport, so they don't cut much low end displacement drive in them, it took me three or four years to develop a race board sail that didn't just fall away when you applied downhaul with a combination of luff curve and broad seaming. I'd hate to have to do it for three different mast curves, that would take a long time.

Originally posted by Telltale So are we condemned to an opaque sail with an unstayed carbon stick

I'm not sure a flat, fully battened sailboard rig is proof that the Aero would be better in laminate. Most Merlin's and N12s still chose Dacron for the jib, so the material has some merit beyond cost. Mind you, the D Zero sail was laminate, so it must be possible (though I suspect the D Zero mast is stiffer).

Windsurfers are not dinghies folks... Comparing the two isn't productive.

Originally posted by Peaky I'm not sure a flat, fully battened sailboard rig is proof that the Aero would be better in laminate. Most Merlin's and N12s still chose Dacron for the jib, so the material has some merit beyond cost. Mind you, the D Zero sail was laminate, so it must be possible (though I suspect the D Zero mast is stiffer).

Dacron wins out over laminate for jibs due to the flogging they endure tacking and pre-start. Its a longevity thing.