I have had a telephone conversation with Tim Saunders, Chairman of the UK Fireball Association.
The Fireballs changed their rules to allow mylar for the mainsail and the first new sails were made early 2003. For some time, sailmakers experimented with materials and are now using a heavier grade of mylar than they began with. There were no changes to the sail shape and dacron sails remain legal and some sailors prefer them and use them. However, most sailors now use mylar. At his club, which has a fleet of newish boats, the mylar mains seem to last about 18 months. He confirms the remarks made by Non Dom about the stability of the mylar cloth - until it collapses.
One of the reasons for allowing mylar was to promote the image of the fireballs to compete with the growing numbers of new trapeze classes. I asked him whether the mylar part of the image had proved beneficial. He said he really doesn't know. Association membership has stayed roughly the same since 2003. Clubs have different approaches to growing their fireball fleets. He thinks there have been much more important influences than the promotion of the image via the change to mylar.
I would be interested to hear from Non Dom how his old mates in GP14s have fared since they took to mylar. In particular, did they believe that they needed an "up to date" image and do they think it has made a difference.
Mike
Mike - if they now use a heavier cloth, does that eliminate the benefit of weight reduction that Philip I think referred to? Rj
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