Lately there has been a lot of talk about Thistle Jibs, their longevity and potential solutions to what many feel is a problem.
For starters, let me take you through what we've learned in the past 20 months being affiliated with Quantum Sails. In the fall of 2005 we started to analyze cloth that could be used in all Thistle Sails. Most cloth available for One Design applications comes in a variety of "finishes" both in resin and in weave. We knew we wanted a durable cloth for the jib as it gets bent around the forestay, crushed into the bow tank, jabbed by spreaders, etc. The Dimension/Polyant line of Square Weave HTP Plus cloth has been known for its ability to perform and withstand punishment.
Initially we built sails out of 165, which is 3.8 oz. The cloth is very nice, but we found (as you will see in the pictures below) that it broke down early, which went against one of our primary goals. We briefly tested 180, which is 4.2oz and it clearly performed as good and held up well. At the 2006 MWE we delivered all jibs in the 180 flavor. To this day we still offer this cloth in our jib and we are happy with the balance between durability and performance (sailmakers call it price/performance). Greg Griffin talks about his impression of how durable our sails were in the January Insite News on Destination One Design:
http://www.destinationonedesign.com/community/get_article.aspx?article=4e970382-305c-49ee-a4a0-e430a3ce772b
Through our testing in Jacksonville this winter, we have built a variety of jibs out of slightly different cloth from Contender (Polykote). It is amazing stuff, if you never had to bend it around the mast. We use "PK" in our Lightning, Scot, Highlander sails and it works great. The primary difference between the Thistle and these boats.....decks and somewhat less overlap (LP) on the headsail.
Now in April 2007 the question has been placed to the class via List Serve. What should we do with our jib durability issues? Of course that question brought on a lot of generalizations from folks that suggested that sailmakers don't care, they don't sail because "they know" what sailing does to the sails, we are concerned only about making a profit. Let me try to help set the record straight....we care immensely! If we at Quantum are viewed as the "durability" experts, or if our sails are seen as the durable option, that puts us at a HUGE competitive advantage. It is a great motivator and those involved in our product development know that this is always a top consideration.
Back to the List Serve. I enjoy listening to "ideas" on various topics. The problem is that too many times ideas get shot down. Sometimes its logic, but many times it is just a stalwart that suggests "its always been this way", which I can truly appreciate history and legacy, but we also can't squelch those trying to help by making suggestions.
One such suggestion was whether the class, which has an acquisition limit, should allow a 2nd jib. I think it is an potential solution to the current problem, assuming the class does nothing with its rules. A jib is about $450 retail, but, as was pointed out, the sails will be worth more in the very vibrant 2nd hand market.
Another suggestion, which Greg Fisher and I talk about often, is split weighting the cloth. By that the sailmakers would be free to place some different styles and weights in the problem areas (which you can see in the pictures below). The problem, it isn't allowed by the class.
Another suggestion is to address the corner detailing. This is allowed (to a certain degree) and something we have done in our 2007 sails. The clew corners are much bigger to cover the problem areas. Another reinforcement point could be a spreader patch....
In order for the class and sailmakers to conquer this problem, there has to be recognition that there is a problem. I truly believe the lack of a deck, low spreaders and the LP (overlap) of the sail AND no minimum weight point to the fact that there is a problem.
Solutions?
-Specify a minimum weight of 4.0oz
-Allow split weight
-Loosen up on the corner detailing
Check out these pictures and notes below....they show the exact problem area and the above solutions could address this problem....
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2005 Quantum Thistle Jib (165sq HTP). This sail has approximately 250 sailing hours on it.
These four pictures show one of our first 2005 series jibs that has been retired to practice. Notice that there will be a common theme of where these sails breakdown and it is about 2' above the clew (ironically where the sail makes its transition from the deck grating to the bow tank area).
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2006 Test Jib - 180sq with standard corner detailing. The weight difference of this jib vs. the above pics is 3.8oz to 4.2oz. The sail has about 50 sailing hours on it.
Though it has a smaller corner, the initial breakdown is evident in the #2 seam, just behind the window detailing. This is the area that gets worked into the grating if the jib is pushed down into the bow. This is also where the sail "hinges" if it is backwinded or "boxed".
Greg Griffin reported that he got 16 regattas = 70 races out of his 2006 jib sailing throughout the Southeast.
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Test 07 - This sail is identical to the sail above in that it is built out of 180sq. The difference is the corner detailing. This sail has approximately the same number of hours (50) as the sail above.
Notice the transition point between the sail and the corner detailing. It is easy to see where the Thistle Jib breaks down initially.
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3995's 2007 Jib. Built out of 180sq and larger corner detailing. This sail is the result of the above testing. This jib has MWE & Orange Peel which equates to about 56 hours +/- in some of the toughest conditions. Proof Positive?
The corner transition is not as pronounced and although this sail doesn't have a full season, I am very confident that we'll be doing battle with this sail throughout the summer of 2007!
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