White Polytarp Sails = PolySails

PolySail International

High Performance/Low Cost Sails for Small Sailboats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PolySail Kits/Products

 

Kit Components

 

Simple Instructions

 

Customer Surveys/Research

 

PolySail Library

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:

·         2009 PDRacer Worlds

·         Evolution of the Z-PDR

·         Customer pictures

·         Free and Low Cost Boat Plans

·         Lightweight Mast

·         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.

Ray Hodsdon's beautiful little shellback dinghy powered by a PolySail lugger. Click on the picture for more customer pictures.

 

Access to the Free Old Boat Designs Page. Click on the picture.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From step 1È

Tarp staked out on ground.

 

 

 

 

               To sailing  in about 4 hoursÆ

 

Click below to access the PolySail Library and Sail Database…..

Library portal

Essence, our PolySail test boat, sails down a Lake Vista channel toward her home berth after testing a jib-headed sprit sail.

 

Essence, our 16’ sail testing sharpie. Click on the picture for more on Essence.

 

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.

Free and Low Cost Boats

 

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.

 

PolySail racing? Well, I used to live near the most famous track in the US and maybe the entire world-the Indianapolis 500 Speedway, a.k.a. the Brickyard. And I really like NASCAR; so here’s a little boat for all of us speed fans.  Evolving from the lightweight Hot Tub scows (see below) , this little racer/fishing boat scoots even with an electric trolling motor attached. Who needs a big bass boat?

Z-Boat with 5 hp Briggs & Stratton Power

Favorite Links

 

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.

History of Hot Tub Boats

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).

Styrofoam Hot Tub 2

Old Boat Designs

 

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.

Old Boat Plan

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 Midwest. Click on the button for more info.

 

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.

 

Click on the button to the left for instructions on building a lightweight box mast for your dinghy.

 

Weekender Sails

Weekender Sails

 

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.

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.        Opportunity to experiment with different sail shapes and sizes (See our web pages for simple directions.)

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.)

 

 

 

PolySail International

2291 SE Gaslight St., Port St. Lucie, FL 34952-7332.

 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