A spinnaker is built from coloured nylon. The cloth is chosen for the sail’s working range; the colours are then arranged across the panels without adding a separate surface finish.
Choose the cloth for the job
Nylon is light enough to fill in low pressure and elastic enough to absorb the shock of a sail collapsing and refilling.
Cloth weight is not simply a durability upgrade. Lighter nylon fills in less wind but has a lower working ceiling. Heavier nylon remains stable in more wind but will not fly as readily in very light air. The selected Usage, sail area and intended wind range therefore belong with the Cloth choice.
See Downwind Sailcloth for the nylon families and their trade-offs.
Colour is the cloth
Changing a panel colour changes which roll of nylon that panel is cut from. It does not add a painted layer to the sail.
Use Base Color and Panel Colors to build the scheme in the configurator preview. Simple schemes remain clearest when the sail is curved and seen from a distance:
- horizontal bands;
- a mirrored scheme around the centreline;
- radial colour groups that follow the structural panel layout.
Design for the sail in use
A spinnaker is usually seen backlit. Light colours become luminous, dark colours become more opaque, and two similar shades may merge when the sun is behind them. Two or three colours with clear contrast normally read better than a complicated palette.
The sail is also doubly curved, so a straight division on the flat preview will bend when the sail is flying. The final panel plan is checked against the production layout during Sailmaker Review.
Logos and sail numbers are added separately in Sail Configuration.