When sails fail due to sunlight damage, what parts of sails are most likely to fail? We asked a sailmaker, Mike Bartles of M&H Bartles Sailmakers in Boothbay, Maine, this question. According to Bartles, it usually isn’t the cloth but the stitching. The most common damage to modern sails happens silently and invisibly: the steady beating of the sun. Sunlight contains ultraviolet (UV) light, which is more energetic than the wavelengths of visible light. This UV light has enough energy to slowly break down the fibers in nylon and polyester. The stitching holding the panels together is what breaks down…
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