Question on sail storage

[Terry B]

Just hauled my Eclipse for winter. I'm planning to store her outside, on trailer, under a custom fitted cover. Question is is it OK to leave mainsail flaked on the boom (as it is Spring through Fall) or is there a good reason to remove, fold and store at home? Bear in mind, it would be under a sail cover which in turn would be under a boat cover.
Thanks for any help and fair winds to you all!
Terry

[CaptRon28]

In my opinion - a lot depends on where you are and for how long. Numerous days of sub-freezing temperature would definitely get me to remove it. I'd be less tempted to to this in warmer weather, but mold and mildew could be a factor there as well. Probably better to store it indoors for any extended lay-over. Note that my trimaran is sitting on the trailer down in Florida parked on a storage lot, under a full Sunbrella boat cover, and all of the sails are inside the house. I did not roll them up either - they are flaked and stored as such. Rolling a new or stiff flaked sail can cause some damage - especially on my very stiff kevlar sails. The Horizon and trailer are on my driveway up here in NJ, also under a custom Sunbrella cover. The sail is in the house. The layover on both boats is around 6 months.

[Bob23]

I hoist the sails up my flagpole, give them a thorough rinse, dry 'em out and fold them up and put them in thier respective sailbags. Then, I read them a nice bedtime story and it's off to winter hibernation in my spare bedroom. I even remove the cushions. Heck, even the lines get rinsed, dried and stored in bags! Yeah, I'm a lunatic!
All this, and my boat is covered with a canvas cover.
Bob23

[Salty19]

I store my boat in an enclosed barn.  I remove every shred of material that is not bolted down. Actually I empty the entire boat including lines (I wash the lines after each season).

While there is low of risk of mold, critters could potential have a hayday with fabrics, including sailcloth.  But under a cover outside, mold could thrive as could mice and bugs.

Best to remove all contents that could potentially disentegrate including sails and store them indoors.  It only takes a few minutes...ounce of prevention is a pound of cure.

[brackish]

After the squirrels ate holes in my hammock pillow and pulled out the stuffing and also ate up the wiring to the fuel injection system on my truck (left it sitting for a week) I'd be real careful if you have any critters in your area.  If you leave it on, I'd fill an old nylon stocking up with moth crystals and hang it from your boom.  Most critters don't like that.

[David]

Ditto for the Moth Balls, they work.
Brackish,  North Mississippi squirrels do not come near to the free heart stress test as does a nest of good ole Southern Mississippi yellow jackets.   Crawled into the 16 about July of this year only to turn and face some angry jackets from someone causing to much vibration for them.  I did not know my old 61 year old body could go from a dead fear/panic frozen state to agile flat out superman speed.  I collided with my neighbor who had come to give me a hand with the tarp I cover the boat with, almost sending her  to the ground.  Left her standing there as about 4-5 of those flying kamikazes proceeded to chase me as I tried to run from the area.  I do not remember hitting the ground.   My stunned neighbor finally saw I had not "lost it", realized  what was happening, and left the area also.  Have had mice eat up a bunch of stuff in storage.  They love old couches.  Reared  in South Louisiana, I can tell you the worst animals to get into anything are Nutria, semi huge rats that weigh up to 30 pounds, with razor sharp teeth and a fear of nothing.    Those darn animals use to eat holes through the old metal cans that had the lids bungee corded on in order to get to the food.  Besides food, they will eat almost anything, sort of like a Cajun.