Our Laminate sail range uses a variety of fibres to suit your sailplan and sailing requirements.

As Laminate implies, the selected fibres are bonded between layers of film at high pressure, sometimes as great as 5 atmospheres. The construction technique significantly reduces stretch as the fibres are laid onto the film in straight layers.
There are many types of fibre that can be used in laminated fabric, Polyester, Pentex, Vectran, Technora, Spectra, Kevlar and Carbon. The lower stretch the fibre, the higher overall sail performance.
We will select the most appropriate fibre for each sail, giving careful consideration to rig dimensions, potential sailing program and budget constraints.
Once a fabric has been selected, and the rig accurately measured, the sail will be designed. This design is then run through the stress analysis software programme Relax This will verify, even before the fabric has been ordered, that the batch and weights of the chosen material will achieve the designed shape, in the appropriate wind conditions.

Laminate fabrics are supplied either off the roll or by membrane.
D4 is a custom load path sail membrane, here we have the ultimate flexibility, the sail design is completed and % fibres are selected. These fibres are then laid to follow predetermined load paths and laminated to outer films, now also available with taffeta backing opening this up to high performance cruising. Yarn trajectories in D4 membranes are curved so that every yarn is perfectly aligned with the dynamic loads in the sail.
Tri Radial cut sails use laminates off the roll with a higher percentage of fibres running in the warp direction. The panels will be cut in number and orientation to suit fibre load direction.
Now also available are crosscut laminates from roll. These fabrics have the fibres running warp and weft as well as off line. Construction time is reduced allowing for a more economical sail. Flex laminate is an example of this by Dimension Polyant.

Sites worth looking at are www.dimension-polyant.com and www.bainbridgeint.com