How to care for your sails
NJ Sails take a lot of care.
We know you demand the best and we do our utmost to deliver the best. Care is taken to make sure your sails are in A1 condition upon delivery and it is the nature of sails and sailing that the sails will never be as fast as they are on the day they are delivered. Any misuse or abuse will degrade the sail and make them slower and less reliable, more prone to failure than they would otherwise be. So please take care of your sails and keep them in tip top racing condition.
Store your sails with no stress on them.
Please make sure your sails are stored without any stress or load or tension on any of the sail material. While the material is very dimensionally stable it will distort if left stressed for a long period of time, e.g. when stored.
Make sure the vang (kicker) is wound off when the backstay is released especially after the sails are taken off the boat. Not doing so and storing the sails with vang tension on will accelerate stretching of the leach, especially when left in the back of a hot car! It is very easy to forget and store sails with vang tension on, so please be careful not to do it.
NJSails do not warranty against any damage caused in this way.
Store your sails dry.
While the sail material is mostly tolerant to moisture, if left wet for extended periods water (moisture) will penetrate into the sail material making it appear more milky. While this does not significantly impact the performance of the sail, it does affect the sails "as delivered' characteristics.
So please, if possible, store your sails dry.
NJSails do not warranty against any damage caused in this way.
Excessive and prolonged exposure to strong sunlight when stored.
If hung in direct sunlight e.g. through a window when stored, the light and heat can damage the sail, especially the material coloured black for the sail number etc. Please store your sails out of direct sunlight.
NJSails do not warranty against any damage caused in this way.
Cleaning your sails.
When used in water that contains sediment or algae, sails can become marked by the residue once they dry off. Salt residue can also cause some marking of sails. These marks can be more apparent on the frosted and translucent sail films than on the satin film but are typically only affect appearance rather than performance of the sails.
That said, it is nice to keep sails looking in tiptop condition, so, if we wish to, how do we remove such substances from the surface of the sails?
One technique that has been found to be effective is to spray the sails down with soapy water using a handheld garden spray and then very carefully, so as to not stress or crease the sails, wipe them down with a dry clean microfiber cloth. Then rinse the sails off carefully with tap water and wipe excess water off with another clean dry microfiber cloth, being very careful not to damage the sail with the cloth.
If you are not confident of being gentle with the sails, then do not wipe down the sails with a cloth and restrict the cleaning activity to gently spraying with soapy water and rinsing.
This needs to be done with the sails on the rig and the rig in the boat. Otherwise, the risk of damaging the sails while cleaning them is too great. Please be very careful and gentle if cleaning is attempted.