GEAR FOCUS

Sails are predominantly made from new plastics, chemicals and virgin fibres, but some latest developments may help address that.

As consumers, looking after your sails and making them last remains key. But for manufacturers, developing circular economy products should be the holy grail – using sustainably sourced products which can be recycled again to make raw materials. While Dacron, Dyneema, carbon fibre, aramid, Mylar films, chemicals and glues remain the mainstay of sailmaking, that seems a pipe dream. However, we understand, for example, that North Sails has a team working on circular cradle-to-grave recycling for the polyester versions of its 3Di sails that would enable the company to derive raw materials for new fabric from end-of-life sails.

Meanwhile, a couple