North 3D Mainsail failure

brian eiland · Jun 28, 2015

I recently moved down to St Augustine FL, and a new neighbor was telling me about an older gentleman who was embarking on a solo transit of the world to challenge Dodge Morgan's one. But he indicated that the boat (a custom build by Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding from Farr designs) had failed on the first two attempts. That person told me that a broken mast was the culprit on both occasions, but I see from this website that it was the mainsail on the second attempt. (don't yet know about the first case?)

If you go to this blog, ...and then scroll down to
http://stanleyparis.com/?cat=2
"My Silence Ends"

First the sails. Photo #1 shows the mainsail tear within minutes of my first seeing it. I had just finished a moderate air downwind and well controlled gibe with the traveler and boom centered. Something within my eye did not look right and so I looked up and saw the unbelievable tear. I looked away hoping it was a mistake and that I had not seen it at all. I looked back and it was still there. Immediately I knew it was over and sank to my knees resting my hands and head on a winch and try to cry for relief. No tears came and I was forced to accept the reality.

Photo #2 shows the sail a few minutes later when the separation became greater as most likely the luff and leach lines were coming out of the head area. I kept the sail up and used it along with a moderate sized staysail to balance and head for Cape Town. With a gale coming up the day before arrival “winds 30 to 40 knots with gusts to 50” I brought the sail down and tied it to the boom where it remained till Cape Town.

Photo #3 shows the tear once we had the sail down and on the dock. Later it was laid out in the loft for inspection and repair.

The sail is a North Sails 3di, state of the art. The tear is like nothing they have seen before. North will repair the sail without charge and that really is all I can expect. So far they have said “We’ve looked at the sail from every angle trying to find a defect and determine the cause of failure. So far, nothing has been found to raise a red flag.”
Click to expand...

So I have 2 initial questions:
1) Should a hi-tech North 3Di sail fail like this?
2) Appears to be a failure at a seam,...thus why would North sails not have a good idea about the cause of failure??

brian eiland · Jun 28, 2015

North 3Di sails
http://www.na.northsails.com/Technology/3DiQA/tabid/18175/Default.aspx

...and I just found this:
http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/built-last

Jamie Kennedy · Jun 28, 2015

Dude's got some bad luck, but lot's of tenacity.
Best regards to Dr. Stan on his next attempt.

rwatson · Jun 28, 2015

brian eiland said: ↑

North 3Di sails
...and I just found this:
http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/built-last
Click to expand...

"When North started making the 3Di sails they were making them 100 percent aramid or 100 percent carbon, but they were brittle and breaking, so now it’s a mix of aramid and Dyneema (Spectra) "

Sounds like he got an old batch of cloth.

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North 3D Mainsail failure

brian eiland Senior Member

Attached Files:

Pic-1-Kiwi-1-15.jpg

Pic-2-1-2015.jpg

Pic-3-2015.jpg

brian eiland Senior Member

Jamie Kennedy Senior Member

rwatson Senior Member

Space between mizzen mast and mainsail

Mainsail question: Monohull vs Multihull