By Mark Giles Technical Advisor

Reproduced from Supernova Issue No. 6 January 1999

Does the Supernova sail get tired? Well eventually all sails wear out but mylar keeps its shape much longer than cloth. However, as the sail gets older it is inevitable that it will get little creases in it. Because these creases do not pull flat in the wind the effect is to flatten the sail slightly.

When this happens the centre of effort or fullness tends to move aft. You can try sailing with the foot a little fuller but this only affects about 40% of the sail. Another ploy is to taper the battens towards the front of the sail. The flatter the batten towards the front, the further forward the centre of effort will tend to be. Remember, however, battens are not really there to force a sail into a given shape. Their job is to support the sail in the correct shape and so very high batten tension is not advised.