The Driving Force on Your Boat's Sailplan 

On most cruising boats, the jib or genoa, even if it is smaller than the mainsail, contributes most of the drive when sailing to windward or reaching. Along with low-stretch sailcloth and a well-designed airfoil shape, important considerations when considering a headsail are cloth weight and overlap.

The Right Cut: Function Drives Form

We offer five types of headsail panel layouts, each suited to particular type of cruising and length of boat. If you are uncertain which panel layout is best for your needs, we are happy to offer our advice.

	CROSSCUT An all-purpose panel layout for small to mid-size boats, the crosscut is versatile. Crosscut fabrics are well-proven, stable, and available in many weights		VERTICAL CUT Best for small to mid-size boats, the vertical cut eliminates load-bearing seams along the leech. Durable for long-term use.
	FULL-RADIAL A cost-effective radial panel layout for smaller boats. Maintains its radial-design low-stretch ability when deeply roller-reefed.		BI-RADIAL Good for small performance cruising boats and mid-size cruising boats. The bi-radial design reduces stretch and allows "step up" cloth weights for easy handling.
	TRI-RADIAL Best for boats over 40 feet. The tri-radial design reduces sail stretch and allows the use of "step up" fabric weights to handle high loads while saving weight in low-load areas.

The Right Fabric for Easy Handling, Low Stretch, and Long Life

We do not use racing fabrics - they are too stiff for easy handling, and their service life is not up to our standards. We do, however, work closely with our fabric suppliers, and we demand the best cruising fabrics with the following characteristics: 1. High-tenacity (high-quality) polyester yarns; 2. Tightest possible weave; 3. Low stretch along the threadline and across the bias direction; 4. Softest possible resin finish for easy handling. Given the volume of sails that hav been built over the past 20 years, our suppliers are happy to meet our requirements!

 Furling Covers and Foam Luff Flatteners

If you are considering a furling headsail, we offer two choices of leech and foot suncover: acrylic Sunbrella and UV-protected Dacron, both available in a range of colors. We recommend a foam luff flattener if you plan to sail with your sail roller-reefed; a foam luff will considerably improve the reefed airfoil shape of your headsail.