Paikea’s Sails
Most of Paikea’s sails have a previous life. We buy recycled grand prix sails where we can — sails built to the highest specifications in the world, used for one campaign, and then discarded. Anna is a professional sailmaker with background spanning NorthSails New Zealand, America’s Cup campaigns, J Class, and Volvo Ocean Race programmes, which means she can evaluate cloth, recut shapes, and do the work herself. That combination of access and skill makes recycled race sails a practical option for us in a way that isn’t straightforward for everyone.
When we couldn’t find the right material in the Caribbean and had no loft space to work in, we bought a new headsail. That’s the honest reality — recycling sails is a good approach when the conditions are right, not a universal solution.
The appeal of this approach on Paikea specifically is that our rig is experimental. Using recycled sails lets us test shapes and configurations before committing to a significant investment in new cloth. When a sail isn’t working we haven’t lost much. When it does work we understand exactly why before we spend money on something permanent. The Mini Maxi 72 material we have coming from a recent refit project will give us more opportunities to try shapes we wouldn’t otherwise risk.
The materials matter. Hydranet, carbon 3DI, and Spectra-based laminates hold shape under load in a way Dacron never will. A recycled race sail in these materials will outperform a new Dacron sail and keep its shape longer — even accounting for age and previous use. That’s the trade: you get superior materials at a fraction of the cost, but with a shorter remaining lifespan than new cloth in the same material.
This isn’t a guide to buying sails. The specific decisions — what to look for in second-hand cloth, how to evaluate a recut, what shapes suit your rig — are exactly the kind of thing that benefits from a proper conversation rather than a checklist. That discussion happens in the members’ forum where you can start a topic and discuss your ideas with other like minded sailors.
Paikea’s Sail Inventory
| Sail | Conditions | Wind Range | True Wind Angle | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainsail | All-round | 5–35+ kts | All points | Hydranet square top, recut from a Mini Maxi 72ft race delivery main |
| J1 Jib | Upwind / light to moderate | 0–25 kts | 30°–70° | Carbon 3DI, recut from a Mini Maxi 72ft race headsail |
| Code 0 | Reaching / light air | 0–12 kts | 60°–100° | Recut from an America’s Cup spinnaker staysail |
| Big A | Downwind / light to moderate | 0–10 kts | 80°–180° | Recut from an RC44 spinnaker. Use with caution above 10 knots |
| Frankie | Downwind / moderate | 10–25 kts | 80°–180° | Fractional asymmetric, recut from an RC44 spinnaker |
| Storm Jib | Heavy weather / upwind | 25–45+ kts | 30°–70° | Carbon 3DI, recut from a Carkeek 47. Flies on inner forestay |
The Build Stories
Recutting a Superyacht Mainsail
Paikea’s mainsail started life as a 72-foot superyacht delivery main. Cutting it down solo during lockdown, reshaping the head into a modern square-top, and solving the batten receptacle problem with 3D-printed inserts when off-the-shelf fittings blew the budget. Read more →
Recutting a Spinnaker Staysail into a Code 0
Turning a 2007 America’s Cup spinnaker staysail into Paikea’s Code 0 — radial construction, remeasuring for a rebuilt front end after the new beam and bow pole changed every original dimension, and rebuilding the head reinforcement from scratch when the old one didn’t suit the fuller new shape. Read more →
Sailing with the Code 0 and Our First Choice for Furler
Why the new bow pole and longeron exist — flying the Code 0 and asymmetric spinnakers from the pole, a removable inner forestay for storm sails, and the KZ furler chosen to handle it all properly. Read more →
Paikea’s First Sea Trial: Carbon Front Beam, New Rudders, and a Midnight Sewing Job
A mainsail head repair that ran until four in the morning, then straight out into 16 knots of chop to test everything. The beam was solid, the rudders transformed how the boat steers, and a passage that used to take six hours got done comfortably faster with everything up. Read more →
Want to Talk Sails?
Sail selection, recutting, cloth evaluation, and what actually works on a performance cruising cat — this is a topic that needs a proper conversation, not a checklist. Come and talk it through in the members’ forum with people who’ve done it professionally.