BYYB Forums

I ran across these videos on youtube, which claims butyl dropcloth can be easily glued up to make a sail for a small boat.  The guy in the video claims it's softer and quieter than dacron, and looks better than polytarp.  From a cursory search, it looks a bit more expensive than polytarp, but not much.

Part 1 shows tests made on samples, and part 2 shows him actually making a sail, including grommets.  He glues up the dropcloth with contact cement. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdlrT3VPp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlG15vj0oRM

So, has anyone actually tried this?  He says part 3 was supposed to show the sail in actual use, but hasn't been posted yet, even though the first two videos were posted over a year ago.

Considering the fabric weight, it's immediately discounted as a bad material for small boat sails, though if heading into the tradewinds for a few months . . .

Butyl is a rubber, usually applied to the back of a light fabric, which does water proof it, but also makes it really heavy, which doesn't set well as a sail. The lowest weights I've seen are 9 ounce, which means it heavier than a storm sail material. The last thing is to consider is the fabric it's attached to. What is it's weave, what is it's density (denier). Often butyl is applied to a relatively weak fabric (low weave count and low denier), which is okay as a drop cloth, but not good when fiber strength is required as in a sail.

Goodchild has done a great service to the boating community over the years, but I have some issues with this method/material choices.