WHY YOU GET MORE SECONDHAND VALUE AND LONGER LIFE FROM LOFTSAILS EXCLUSIVE DIMENSION POLYANT FILMS
Brands that charge top-end prices and do not use industry leader Dimension / Polyant (DP) films are not a smart purchase.
If you rely on keeping a strong used value to your gear before a regular annual/two-yearly upgrade, it’s vital to buy wisely and not be looking at – after as little as one season’s use – a delaminated mess that’s not even fit to carry your grocery shop home, let alone be able to give you any trade-in value.
CHALLENGE: If you are not a Loftsails customer, can your sail brand prove they are using the highest-possible-quality sail fabrics to justify their price tag?
OVERVIEW
Loftsails colored 4-mil (2 mil + 2mil) bi-ply films by DP are tested and proven to have:
- 2 x the UV lifespan of extruded monofilm
- 300% more flexibility before cracking
- Are developed exclusively for Loftsails
DP X-PLY© and fibers deliver:
- Superior anti-stretch and post-stretch recovery (‘memory’) than standard tenacity fibers
- Flatter surface for more ‘slippery’ release
STRAIGHT TALKING
There’s a lot of techno jargon used by sail brands promoting their product quality. For the purposes of this article we’re only going to focus on the most popular types of windsurfing sail cloth used – X-PLY© and mono films – in the main body of the sail. (We’re not going to discuss Dacron or ‘hybrid’ or molded techniques, or other exotic 3D laminates or mast pocket/luff sleeve component materials.)
Loftsails bi-ply film is the most UV resistant on the market and retains tensile strength and flex characteristics longer than anything else on the market.
FILM BUFF? KNOW YOUR STUFF?
MONO FILM FACTS
Think thicker film is firmer and stronger? Think again. When constructing windsurfing sails, film thickness is something that has to be balanced because, the thicker the film, the worse the tear strength actually becomes. Film also has increasingly lower UV resistance the thicker it becomes.
However, thickness does deliver superior impact strength, so getting the right weight to have performance (solidity, feel, wind range) and durability from impact and UV protection is vital.
4 mil is about the right balance for all of those things and a nice slippery release in Loftsails Blade products. Loftsails 4 mil film is in fact not a ‘mono’ film, it is a bi-ply, two-layer laminate of 2 mil = 2 mil film using quality adhesive, a bit like an X-PLY©, but minus the yarn.
Even some superior films such as DP still only have an effective working life of about 300 hours of UV exposure – so our advice is to keep your sails in their bags or in the shade when they’re not on the water!
ANTI-STRETCH and UV RESISTANCE LAB TESTS:
After 300hrs of UV tensile strength and flex test:
Regular Monofilm: tensile loss: 58%
Loftsails exclusive Bi-Ply: tensile loss: 17%
After 300 hrs UV and then a flex of 250 flex and then tensile test:
Regular Monofilm after flex tensile loss: 100% broke before 250 flex test
Loftsails exclusive Bi-Ply after flex tensile loss: 28%
WHAT IS X-PLY©?
X-PLY© is film, but with fibre bonded between multiple layers.
Most people think the idea is only to give ‘rip stop’ effect and limit how far through a panel a tear can go.
This it does, but the yarns – subject to their longitudinal/latitudinal orientation and combinations thereof – are also there to spread load, as well as reduce overall weight compared to multi-directional, multi-layered ‘radials’ etc.
The types of yarn (spectra/ployester/kevlar/carbon – or combinations thereof) as well as spacing and yarn thickness (denier) all make a difference to how effective this load distribution is.
The quality of adhesive in X-PLY© laminates (sandwiches) all influence how well the cloth will resist delamination.
Loftsails X-PLY©
X-PLY©s generally also have slightly better resistance to UV exposure compared to most regular monofilms, due to the adhesives used for lamination.
So the quality of adhesives used both hugely determine resistance to delamination and the effectiveness of UV resistance in both X-PLY© and the kind of custom bi-ply utilised by Loftsails.
Some fabrics, such as Dacron, can be stronger than X-PLY©, but this argument depends on the level of flex required in the sail’s handling. (E.g., Dacron is significantly flexier and softer in feel).
Plus, sharp piercing on almost any material will still result in a hole regardless. (For comparison, a harness hook, or fin from another rider ,will go through carbon kevlar on your board during impact, so most cloth will definitely not resist a puncture.)
LOFTSAILS EXCLUSIVE MATERIALS
The quality adhesives used in the kind of unique, 4-mil bi-ply coloured DP films developed exclusively for Loftsails are proven to be superior in both UV resistance and the anti-stretch/firm feel performance.
DP have been a leader for over 50 years and also manufacture all their own materials in house. Additionally, all DP laminates are produced in the U.S.
Rather than using off-the-shelf stock, Loftsails works with DP to develop specialised materials and dedicated colors to ensure Loftsails customers get the highest quality, most superior performance and best value-for-money, with added longevity.
DP materials are thoroughly tested in rigorous procedures for washing, UV, rolling (anti-wrinkle) and stretch resistance.
And the facts are that flat film is still the fastest, firmest and most stretch resistant material.
SUMMARY
- Basically X-PLY© is the best solution for certain areas of the sail and for sails demanding extra durability and rip-stop qualities.
- Film however – but only quality film like Loftsails exclusive, colored plus from DP – is better for performance and UV resistance. This has the ‘best of both worlds’ qualities of anti-stretch, UV protection, puncture resistance and feel/performance.
- For impact resistance, film and X-PLY© are close, dependant on total thickness of laminates or single layers.
- If you spend money on a sail with X-PLY©s and films that are not made by DP – or up to the standard of DP films that Loftsails specify – you will not see the same levels of durability and lifespan and will wear your sails out faster and not be able to command the level of secondhand value as a Loftsails product.