Submitted on September 7, 2005 by Jochen Marnitz

Question: Dear North Sails,

As a cruising sailor with occasional participation in regattas (Scandinavian 43 ft cruiser racer) I plan to buy 3DL™ sails. The decision is to be made between S600 taffeta and marathon.

As I saw from your homepage, marathon contains LCD yarn, whereas S600 contains aramid yarns. What is the difference between these yarns and which effect will it have for me? Which sail will last longer? Which sail will keep its shape longer? How big is the price difference in percent approximately? Shortly said: What would be your recommendation for a cruiser / racer like me: S600 / taffeta or marathon?

Best regards,
Jochen Marnitz

Answer: Hi Jochen,

The differences between a Marathon 3DL™ sail and 3DL 600TF™ are subtle. The two products have very similar performance characteristics and the pricing will also be very close. Marathon sails are set up for the modern cruising boat with an emphasis on efficient shape when the sail is reefed. Marathon mainsails have a very specific batten, reef and luff slide configuration and yarn layouts that fit the hardware placements. For shorthanded coastal sailing and ocean passages the Marathon sails are perfect. However, if you like to race your boat with some extra friends on board, you should talk to your North sailmaker about a 3DL 600TF sail. With the 600TF product you can make a sail that is almost exactly like a Marathon sail, or just like a Farr 40 race sail, or anything in between.

For occasional racing you might compromise from the full battens of the Marathon sail and use 2 or 3 full length battens at the top of the 600 TF sail, in combination with leech battens in the lower half of the sail. Leech battens can be any length but they will typically extend about 35%-50% of the way from the leech towards the luff. Using leech battens in the lower half of the sail allows you to have a little more control over the shape of the sail when you are racing. Another change from the Marathon specification might be the position of the reefs. Racing sails typically have reef sets closer to the foot of the sail so that you can reduce sail area in smaller increments. You will also have to make some decisions about the shape of the roach area, depending on the rule you will be racing under and how much interference with your backstay is acceptable to you. Your sailmaker can help you with all of these decisions.

Regards,
Dan Neri

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