If you ever wanted to see X-Drive sails in action, check out this video. It shows the X302 XEBEC with with X-Drive Carbon sails sailing out of Howth Yacht Club in Dublin, Ireland. The both the main and genoa have a strip of reinforcing taffeta on their leeches. The leech of a sail gets more abuse than any other part of the sail. When the sail luffs, the Dacron leech tape snaps back and forth which, over time, breaks down the fibers in the sail at the inside edge of the leach tape. The sailmaker’s term for this damage is called “hinging.” The reinforcing strip moves the hinging point forward into the sail where the sail doesn’t flutter as much. Notice that the inboard edge of the taffeta reinforcing strip has a wavy pattern instead of straight edge to reduce the chance of hinging.
A detail like this is just one more reason that X-Drive sails last as long as they do. For more information about our X-Drive carbon racing sails click here.
Well-designed, fast and durable sails that last and won’t break the bank!
