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DIAX Cloth

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Anyone ever hear of this laminate? Seeing some used sails on Bacons website that I may go check out. Whats this stuff all about?

GENOA, 3.5 OZ. DIAX (MYLAR/KEVLAR LAMINATE) WITH 4.4 OZ DIAX LEACH AND FOOT PANELS BY HATHAWAY, REISER & RAYMOND. 3/16" LUFF TAPE FOR SLOTTED EXTRUSION. LEACH AND FOOT LINES. TELLTALE WINDOW. PEEL OFF NUMBERS AND DRAFT STRIPES. SPREADER REINFORCING PATCHES

Not sure if a 3/16" luff will fit in a Harken 2 furler though...
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
DIAX diatribe

DIAX is a racing fabric made by Bainbridge sailcloth. Bainbridge is one of the oldest and best known cloth manufacturers, and is considered very high quality.

Check it out at: www.sailcloth.com, click to enter and you will see a good description of this fabric.

Today's DIAX has Twaron (kevlar) AND carbon on Mylar, so this must be a pretty old sail-I would be leery of paying much for it unless it has had VERY,VERY little use.
No reason why this construction (step up in weight/tri radial panel layout) is bad-it was state of the art not too many years ago, but it is NOT a fresh sail, and may be beat to death...

You know what I think about used sails. The only ones I would buy are sails I have actually looked at-otherwise you run quite a lot of risk...

Not that I have an opinion!:devil:

Seth
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
I am lucky in that respect Seth. Living in Annapolis means I can go to Bacons and check out the sail up close. I worked for Bacons for a few years so I have a good relationship with Dixie Bacon and her nephew Steve. I agree with you on the used sail gig but if I can find a decent sail that I can get a year's use out of at a good price it may be worth it. What I really need is a good AP assym. With that and a little work on my existing headsail I would feel confident enough to a least show up to a few races this summer. Most of my rigging work is finished now along with a lot of varnishing. Big thing left is finishing the rigid vang install, max prop, and the bottom job. Not looking forward to polishing the bottom. Its bad enough having to sand it once.:boohoo:
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Worth a look

Ted,

In that case, it is sure worth a look. My sugestion is that if you determine the cloth looks OK, then ask them to string the sail up. This means tension the luff (most lofts have a block and tackle for this), and then hold the clew as if you were a genoa sheet-apply the "pull" so that the load is going from the clew to about 55% of the way up the luff (like the properly led sheet would do)-you can then get a rough idea of the draft location and vertical distribution of the draft (is the top of the sail similar to the bottom sections), and also see how well the leech stands up-or might be hooked.

At the minimum, any large problems will be evident, and you can determine if a recut will be able to correct any problems.

If all checks out and the price is right, go for it!

As always, best of luck!:cool:

S
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Seth can you speak about recutting some? When does it make sense? What can be done? What cant be fixed? How is it done? It is something I have considered in the past but don't know much about. Maybe start a new thread? Thanks
 
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