White Polytarp Sails = PolySails
PolySail International
High Performance/Low Cost Sails for Small Sailboats
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Ray Hodsdon’s beautiful little Shellback Dinghy sports a PolySail lug. Click on the picture for Ray’s testimonial
and more customer pictures. NOTE: We are working to update this site and a number of
missing links have now been restored and new links added, including: ·
Free and Low Cost Boat Plans ·
Non-binding Sail Hoisting System The Links Pages have been updated and
include special instructions for accessing a Sailing Simulator. We are now
working on the Sail Database in the PolySail
Library. Eventually we hope to add more boat plans to the popular Old Boats
section. |
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Construct your own rugged white polytarp sails from our PolySail® Kit in a few hours for a fraction of the cost
of traditional sails. No sewing required! Our kit is ideal for the small boat sailor or builder who wants
a sail or two now for minimal cost or experimental purposes. Made from
brilliant white, extra heavy-weave polyethylene (polytarp) and
extra-strength, double-sided tape, our PolySails®
are difficult to distinguish from traditional sails in appearance or
performance on the water. PolySail International now offers finished sails
for a limited number of popular small sailboats. We also offer custom sail
construction for a fraction of the cost of most sail lofts. See our products
page for more information on these options. To learn more about our white polytarp sails, sail kits, or PolySail® construction, click on the buttons above or
scroll down to the buttons below. We
offer a number of additional pages of interest to boatbuilders,
such as our popular old boat plans (click on the three-masted
clipper at the left) or our free and low cost boats pages. |
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From step 1È To sailing in about 4 hoursÆ Click below to access the PolySail Library
and Sail Database…..
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Essence, our 16’
sail testing sharpie.
Click on the picture for more on Essence. |
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Build a
$300 racing class sailboat! We’ve built four of
these boats for our own use and helped build four more. Why?
These boats are simple to build, stable on the water, and great fun to race. PolySail International supports this fast-growing,
family-friendly, wide open sailboat class with
discount sails and competition sponsorships. It is also the
only racing class that uses nearly all polytarp sails. Click the
button to learn more. |
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This
PolySail page is dedicated
to families, youths and others who might want to try their hands at building
a boat for the first time. Most of the plans require little investment in
time or money, but pay off big in terms of learning, relationships, health, and outdoor
recreation. |
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PolySail racing? Well, I used to live near the most
famous track in the |
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Here’s an updated list of carefully selected links
related to polytarp sails and boatbuilding. IMPROVE YOUR SAILING SKILLS with
National Geographic’s SAILING SIMULATOR or calculate
the power of your sail with the SAILPOWER CALCULATOR. |
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Check out
the evolution of our scow-type fishing boats from the Styrofoam-hulled Hot Tub to Hot Tub III, a tunnel hull disguised as a large
box. Summer 2002 update--we try sailing Hot Tub III at the Lake Rend IL Messabout powered by the D4 sprit sail. (Also see Z-Boat above). |
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Here
are some great old boat plans and designs from the late 1930's and early
1940's. My brother Dan, who collects antiques, bestowed an old coverless
paperback upon me, and I've been pouring over these boat plans ever since. |
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PolySail International along with the Lake Vista Association
sponsored its first Hoosier Regatta and Race in 2008 for PDRacers.
We expect this race to become an annual event for PDR owners in the |
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Foolhardy was our first sharpie
design. Trials showed her to be very fast, but she was built from leftovers
and soon rotted when flooded in a winter storm. She’s now been given a new
home. |
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Click on
the button to the left for instructions on building a lightweight box mast
for your dinghy. |
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Click
on the Weekender Jib & Gaff button to learn how to build the jib and gaff
for this popular Stevenson Projects pocket cruiser from our 15' x 20'
Weekender White PolySail Kit. |
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Advantages
to the home boatbuilder of our stronger, U-V
protected white polytarp material include: 1.
Low cost and ease of replacement (Our kits start at $59.95) 2.
Strength and light weight (We’ve climbed onto one of our small triangular sails suspended from
the three corners to see if it would
stretch out of shape. It didn't.) 3.
Resistance to water, rot, and sunlight (We've used our white polytarp for boat covers for the past five years.
Unlike most tarps, they don't
disintegrate in a season or two.) 4.
Speed and simplicity of construction (White polytarp can be taped rather than sewn, but the material sews
easily if you want to reinforce edges and corners, add battens, or include
windows.) 5.
6.
Appearance and performance that rivals "real"
sails (See the Stevenson Projects link on our links page
for their comparison of polytarp and dacron sails.) |
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PolySail International Email polysail@polysail.com or call Dave Gray at 317 385-3444 PolySails–Sold on the Web since 1996. Customers in all 50 states and around the globe. Copyright
© 1997 PolySail International. All
rights reserved. Listed
in Dun & Bradstreet |
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Page updated on 11/24/2009