What Are Pirate Ship Sails Made Of?

This text explores the design, functions, and secrets of pirate vessels, focusing on their hull, deck, masts, and rigging. A pirate ship is defined as any vessel whose sailors and crew are engaged in piracy, and can be anything from a raft or canoe to a massive frigate or man of war. Rigging is the system of ropes, wires, and chains used to support and operate the masts, sails, booms, and yards of a ship.

A mast is a large pole (spar) resin above the deck that supports sails and rigging. Pirate ships encapsulated the essence of pirate life and were made of various materials, including natural fibers like flax, hemp, or cotton in sail canvas, and synthetic fibers like nylon, polyester, aramids, and carbon fibers in various woven, spun, and molded textiles.

Sails made of cotton were stiff and difficult to handle, so modern users of quality sailcloth are using 100% cotton, which is pre-washed and weighs 125 gms. The sails of pirate ships were primarily made of canvas, a durable, heavy-duty cloth. One of the most iconic features of a pirate ship was the square sail, which had a square shape and ability to pivot on the mast.

Brick-built sails are heavy and inflexible, adding weight, cost, and complexity without improving accuracy or play. Sails changed from a large square canvas suspended from a single yard to complex arrangements intended to pivot on the mast. To minimize fraying and weight gain, a thin, lightweight synthetic material is suggested for cloth sails.

How durable is sailcloth?

High Durability. The canvas weave and 100% cotton makeup of this fabric makes it a sturdy, durable fabric that will hold up well under wear and tear.

Variety of Uses. Our sailcloth canvas is a popular choice for handbags, table linens, drapes, curtains, lamp shades, jackets, and more. It’s sturdy makeup makes it especially well suited for tablecloths and handbags where it could receive a lot of heavy usage.

How Did Sailcloth Canvas Get It’s Name?. Originally, this type of fabric was used as sails on ships. When the sails would tear or wear out, then the sailors would use the fabric they could salvage to make into clothing, or bedding, or other uses around the ship. Because of this, it became known as sailcloth canvas. We no longer source this fabric from ship yards but it’s still got the sturdy canvas features that you’d imagine a sail would have.

What were English sails made from?

Canvas weavers in this period made their products from hemp or flax yarns. Farmers in Northern Europe and along the Baltic grew vast quantities of both crops and processed them into clean, smooth fibers suitable for spinning into yarn (the weaver’s term for the threads that make up a piece of cloth). While the English word “canvas” comes from the Latin “cannabis,” or hemp, flax seems to have been the fiber of choice for most sails.

A huge amount of canvas came from Russia and Silesia (a region of central Europe now part of Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic), where hemp cultivation had been carried on for centuries. Most sailors in the early 19th century thought flax canvas woven in the English towns of Bridport and Crewkerne was second only to Dutch canvas in strength and durability.

Canvas was graded by number. Number 1 was the coarsest and heaviest, while number 8 was the finest and lightest. The heavier versions typically featured double warps (the yarns that are fixed to the loom and run the length of the cloth), while the lighter versions had single warps.

Is sailcloth water resistant?

Is sail cloth waterproof?. Sail cloth is water resistant or splash proof but is not fully waterproof. However it is very quick drying!

How quickly will my order arrive?. All our beautiful Sails and Canvas products are hand crafted to order which does take us some time. We hope to make your items and have them ready for shipping within 5-7 days (Royal Mail 2nd Class is standard). If you need something urgently or have that last minute present panic, we can usually work something out if you send us an email.

What is the most durable sail material?

Cruising sailcloth comes in three styles: woven Polyester (“dacron”), cruising laminates, and 3D composite material. Each provides a different balance of durability and performance. Dacron fabrics are the toughest and most structurally stable. Cruising laminates offer lighter weight and increased shape holding. 3D composites are a new generation of cruising materials with exceptional shape holding and structural integrity beyond many laminates.

How long does sailcloth last?

Even with premature failure ruled out, pin pointing a sail’s life span is difficult because there are multiple factors involved. This includes environment, climate, and weather. There are weather conditions that sails are not designed to withstand, including strong winds, storms, and snow. However, as a general rule, if installed properly and well maintained, it’s reasonable to expect the fabric of your sail to last at least 5-7 years. These numbers are helpful in planning ahead and budgeting for replacements when the time comes. Now, this isn’t to say that you will have to replace your sail on its fifth birthday, or that you will never get more than 7 years. Neither of those is the case. We have sails still up that are 8, 9 and 10 years old. They are still providing great shade. Obviously they don’t look brand new, because they aren’t. If the owners of those sails had planned on replacing the sails at 5-7 years, they have had more time than they planned to save for replacements. When the time comes, they will be ready.

Is Kevlar the same as fiberglass?

Kevlar® offers an excellent compromise for paddlers seeking lightness and performance. Kevlar® is stronger than carbon, but lighter than fiberglass. Kevlar® is five times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis, yet at the same time, is lightweight, flexible and comfortable.

What were ancient Greek sails made of?

Flax was the main material for sails in Greece, according to the written sources (Nosch 2014; Spantidaki 2018). The use of hemp, especially for ropes, is also noted from the 5th century BCE.

What were Viking ship sails made of?

How did the Vikings ships move?. The ships were powered by oars or by the wind, and had one large, square sail, most probably made from wool. Leather strips criss-crossed the wool to keep its shape when it was wet. Viking ships also had oars. A steering oar or ‘steerboard’ was used to steer the ships. It was fastened to the right-hand side of the ship at the stern (back).

What was life like at sea for Vikings?. There was no shelter on these vessels. At night, Vikings might pull them up on land. They’d take the sail down and lay it across the ship to make a tent to sleep under. Or, they’d pitch woollen tents onshore. If the crew was far out to sea they’d sleep on deck under blankets made from animal skin.

Food would have been dried or salted meat or fish. It could only be cooked if the crew were able to land. They’d drink water, beer or sour milk.

Why do sailors use black sails?

Fashion, Function, and Material Composition. Black has not always been the fast look for sails, but lately more and more black sails are showing up on the water. Why? The simple answer is that many sails are now made with carbon fibers—the strongest load-carrying material in sails—and carbon is black. If some sails seem even blacker to you than they did a few years ago, you may be noticing North’s 3Di sails, a product that has gained significant market share since it first was introduced. Many sailmakers use carbon in their sails, but typically the carbon is laminated between layers of polyester or Mylar film, so it does not look completely black.

North’s 3DL sails fell into this category for many years, with variable densities of the carbon, depending on where it was needed to resist the heaviest loads. 3Di sails are darker because starting in 2013 with the introduction of 3Di RAW, we’ve rid our highest-performing sails of the cover layer and its associated parasitic weight.

We should point out that not all 3Di sails are black, because North has 3Di products that include aramid fibers, which are yellow, and Dyneema fibers, which are white. We also use black, white or gray taffeta or non-woven surface materials for durability on our 3Di ENDURANCE and 3Di OCEAN performance cruising products, for which the owner can choose the color of preference.

What were pirate ship sails made of?

Sailcloth was woven from flax fibre during the period when England, France, and Spain were striving for supremacy of the seas. Fibre flax is still used for sails, although cotton has replaced it for better quality canvas. Cotton sails became popular in Europe after the U.S. racing yacht America, using cotton sails, decisively defeated a fleet of British yachts in 1851. Cotton sailcloth has the advantage over flax, hemp, ramie, jute, and combinations of these materials as a fabric in that it can be woven more closely and therefore will not stretch out of shape as easily or lose as much wind through the pores of the material. Sails made of cotton, however, are very stiff, which makes them difficult to handle.

The chief modern users of quality sailcloth are yachtsmen, who generally prefer the polyester fibre Dacron (or Terylene, its British equivalent). These synthetic fabrics were first introduced in 1950, and they proved much superior to any type of cotton or other synthetic materials. Sails made of Dacron maintain just the correct amount of stretch and so require no “breaking in” period. The greater strength of the fabric permits the use of lighter-weight sails, which maintain their original shape for years. Because this fabric is heat-treated by pressing it between hot rollers of metal, its fibres are flattened and interlocked, giving it a smooth, almost frictionless surface and very little porosity. The stitches, however, do not mesh with the fabric but protrude above the surface of the sail, causing the sail twine to become abraded more rapidly than with other sailcloth.

The basic steps in manufacturing a sail may be outlined as follows: The sailmaker studies the sail plan or measures the vessel’s rig. The stretch and the amount of draft (i.e., the curvature of the surface) are calculated. The actual plan of the sail is chalked out to full scale on the floor of the sail loft. The cloths are laid down over this plan, and their actual length and shape are marked on each individual cloth. The cloths are numbered and then cut to the dimensions outlined by the markings. The cloths are sewn together. A special sail twine is used as thread, and after the needle is threaded the twine is waxed so it will hold the right-hand twist then given to it. This twist helps the thread to mesh with the fabric. After all the cloths are sewn together, patches are attached to the corners, and tabling (hems on the edges) is sewn on the luff (forward edge) and the foot—the places where the greatest strain develops. The finishing touches are applied. The luff rope is sewn inside the leading edge of the sail to prevent the sail from being stretched out of shape. Strong ropes (boltropes) are sewn to the luff and foot, and various fittings, such as metal slides, grommets, reef points, cringles, etc., are attached to the sail.

What material are boat sails made of?

Currently, there are eight different fibers used in sailmaking: carbon fiber, Spectra/Dyneema, Twaron, Technora, Kevlar, Vectran, polyester, and Pentax (which is basically “Dacron on steroids”). Only three of these—Dacron, Vectran, and Spectra—can be readily woven into a viable sail fabric. The remaining fibers are incorporated into a fabric in two basic ways; more on this in a moment.

Mylar film, the sheet form of polyester, is at the core of laminate sails. The film acts as a base to which everything else is glued to form the finished product. In addition, there is a specialized fabric called taffeta that’s used to provide chafe protection to the Mylar, as Mylar alone isn’t particularly durable and doesn’t respond well to chafe or sunlight. Taffeta, a woven polyester fabric consisting of small-diameter fibers, is glued onto the Mylar film—sometimes on one side, sometimes on both, depending on the sail’s intended use.

Finally, there’s a layer called the scrim. This is a combination of fibers—made entirely of Spectra, a Spectra/carbon blend, or consisting of other materials—driven by the sail’s intended use. The fibers in a scrim are assembled in combinations of angles in relation to each other and with different degrees of separations between the fibers. The scrim is designed to support the various secondary loads at work on a sail.