I heard that there is no need to wash the sail with fresh water. Can anyone tell me why?
I used to splash fresh water on everything as I don't like the sticky feel of the sea water when it gets dry.

i always wash my sails booms and extensions in fresh water and allow the sail to dry, it keeps my sails looking clear and my booms and extensions from rusting

For the record I was sailing sabots and 125's in the eighties . Not windsurfing Im not that old

Gestalt's right.

There's no need to wash your sails. The salt will prevent mould from forming. Yes, the salt will attract moisture when conditions are damp, but that water will be salty and it will dry out again.

There's only one reason you might want to wash of salt and that is that salt crystals are abrasive and can cut the threads in the stitching over time, but that would take longer than you would care to keep a sail for.

After never washing my sails, I tried it once, and got mildew on the sail, probably because I never dried it.

Leaving my sails in salt water has done no visible harm, no clouding, no wear, nothing. For a long time, they were all still wet when I went to go sailing again. Always a good thing when you sail that much!

I used to rinse all my gear and hang out to dry after every sail, but now just rinse mast ext, wetsuit and boom, still leave sails out to dry before putting them away, and might only rinse them off if they get dragged through the mud.

Life is too short to be cleaning s$&t

Nackers they are trying to save money by growing new sails, I wonder if they used a rooting powder.

don't knock rooting powder until you have tried it!

This topic got me thinking so I thought "what does the manufacture recomend" so I wrote a quick note to North and this is the reply.

Hey Greg

Washing your sail in fresh water and drying the sail before packing is the best way to look after your sails.

The question of fresh water V Salt comes into play if you roll your sails up wet.

A rolled sail with fresh water can cause mould.

A rolled sail with salt water will not get mould but can damage the monofilm as the salt crystals & sand can scratch the monofilm.


Regards

Adam

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