43 Sail Upgrade/Replacement

[Larry Witty]

The sails on my 08 are still in decent shape after 10 years, but I am finding I like to go fast and have been enjoying some local club races. Given the sailing I do in the Seattle area and longer summer cruises, I am looking to upgrade to "performance cruising" sails.

My local Beneteau dealer is also the local rep for Neil Pride Sails. The have recommended I move to CDX 9 for the main and CDX 7 for the headsail. Both are furling.

I am also weighing the option of a local sailmaker (Ballard Sails in Seattle) and also Hyde Sails. The NP and local sailmaker costs will be about equal, but the Hyde sails will sail $2,000-$2,500.

Any recommendations or experience is upgrading the sails on the B43 would be appreciated. I have never bought a sail before, so trying to soak in as much info as possible.

Thanks - Larry

[Jeff Shukis]

CDX is probably a significant upgrade from the stock sails, but not what I'd consider a perfirmance sail. And since you are doing a bit of racing, you'd probably notice the difference between a polyester laminate like CDX and a higher tech "string sail".

I upgraded the sails on my B40 to a laminate with a mix of aramid and carbon, with taffeta on both sides, and partial battens in the main. I chose Quantum fusion m 6000 series, but there are others. The result was dramatically better sail shape, way more control over heel, much less weather helm, and better pointing ability. The cost was a slightly stiffer sail (still furls consistently, but demands a consistent boom angle to do so) and a $10K lighter wallet. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I wish I had done it on day one instead of waiting years for the original sails to get out of shape.

[Larry Witty]

Thanks Jeff, some good insight. I actually know the Quantum sailmaker here in Seattle (part of my club) so I reached out to his this AM to get thoughts and a quote. Will keep you updated via this discussion as I learn/decide more...

[Larry Witty]

Here is the response from another sail maker who is steering me towards Dimesion Polyant Pro Radial (http://www.dimension-polyant.com/en/pdf/DP_Pro_Radial_E.pdf) which sounds interesting. Anyone have experience with it? Here is what he wrote:

Instead of going with a double taffeta cruising laminate, I chose a fully woven radial cut dacron.

The pro radial from Dimension polyant is extremely low stretch, durable, and will not mildew as the cruising laminates like CDX do over time. We live in a moist climate, and I feel the radial dacron sails are now as good performance wise as the cruising laminates with less issues down the line.

These will be great cruising sails, that will shape up as racing sails. I have been very impressed with the shape holding characteristics of the pro radial.