Black Sails?

Hello,

I recently bought a yacht that is painted black.

It could do with some new sails and am about to approach a sailmaker.

I am considering black sails but was wondering if there are any disadvantages to them? Do they turn white with salt? Are they much harder to see?

Any downside to having black sails?

Thanks

 

Hmm..a black boat with black sails in the Australian sun.

You will roast.

The famous designer Herreshoff was quoted

" There are only two colours to paint a boat. White and Black. Anyone who paints their boat black is a fool "

 

hmmm

thanks for that

well, if it makes any difference, it has a white deck

not going to argue with Herreshoff


cheers

 

For those few who might not be familiar with the quote:

There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool
would paint a boat black."
-Nathanael G. Herreshoff

 

I was up at 6am this morning to hoist a Genoa on a roller furl.

The sail is white, two seasons old, in perfect condition and well cared for. Its is always taken off the roller and bagged when not used.

The sail looks Grubby.

White is also a troublesome colour....it shows dirt.

A friend of mine runs a fleet of 35ft charter boats. His sails are a light turquoise colour.

Very attractive, distinctive for advertising his fleet and they seem to always look clean.

Pehaps ask your sailmaker about colored cloth.

Only choose a light colour.

 

Soon to be mine:





Want it to look like this:



Guess that makes me a fool

 

Black is simply to hot for tropical work. With Black its best to pray for rain or move to Norway for the summer.

In the Mediterranean summer I regularly burn my skin when touching black deckfittings with bare flesh. The interior of the boat becomes uninhabitable.

The boat Im sailing is dark blue... terrible color....when sailing in summer and water splashes onto the topsides, it instantly turns to steam, then leaves a heavy layer of calc. After three or so weeks the blue topsides turns white with a thick layer of calc.

This calc must be cut off with acid.

As Herreshoff said...........................................

 

so what u r saying is, my black mast and boom are done for

 

Im not a fan of black. Black attracts heat and causes the substrate to expand and contract. After a short time all waterproofed joints fail from this thermal movement.

I will admit that Black looks good. The most beautiful boat Ive ever sailed on ..Running Tide..was black.

 

looks nice , black sails would be cool. you don't have much hot weather there. I see malcoms randall flybridge in the back ground and brett h's spencer to the right. I really miss that club. hope to move back next year. btw my avatar pic is taken near jimmy newels inlet.

 

naah, just a joker

 

Over the years (and over 100K nautical miles of sailing) Pete and Annie Hill's Badger has sported a number of colorful sails.

(Photo 4 may be a faded version of photo 1)

 

I like the look of tan sails on a traditional style boat.

 

Just a personal opinion:
On that particular boat in the post #6, I would rather see a white sail on a bright aluminum mast & boom.
Cheers

 

Black Pepper Code 0

Semi transparent black. Definitely cool. The pink shirts, though ...