We've come a long way

To introduce a new series on multihull sail design, Philippe Peche, watch leader and onboard sailmaker on Orange II's remarkable circumnavigation, looks back across 30 years of sailmaking in the 'Giant' Class

There are several major changes that evoke the evolution of racing sails for offshore multihulls. The move through from Dacron to Cuben Fiber panelled sails and then to tomorrow's all-moulded inventory has taken us quite a few years; the refinement of the modern clean, spreaderless, pivoting wing mast has happened rather more rapidly with the benefit of modern materials. But the most significant change, certainly in terms of performance, was the end of the spinnaker. With the demise of the traditional downwind sail the apparent wind moved forwardŠ and now it will never go aft of the beam again!

The end of Dacron
As a young sailmaker apprenticed at North Sails San Diego in 1980, I was introduced to a then revolutionary material, Mylar. The first laminated sailcloth was green and had the nickname 'garbage bag material'. In fact, on Lowell North's 12-Metre Enterprise the green medium genoa was indeed not so affectionately known as exactly that: the 'garbage bag'.

To read the remainder of this and many other topical technical articles, please purchase your copy of the August 2005 edition of Seahorse International Sailing available at selected newsstands or by calling: + 44 (0) 1590 671899 or by email at: info@seahorse.co.uk

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