Sam, how do you stay so angry all the time? You need to chill out before your head asplode.

17 sails are made of a taffeta material - a two-layer laminate - one side is Mylar and the other is dacron.

20 and Tiger sails are fundamentally different because they take much hugher loads. They are a three-layer laminate. Mylar-scrim-Mylar (the scrim is of varying materials).

Did you ask Hobie to warranty your grommet? Little stuff like that can happen to any manufacturer's sail. And how can the bolt rope be too short? Maybe your old sail was stretched out?

Oh, and BTW, in its 10 year life, that '92 Raspberry Wedge sail never placed worse than 9th at eight different 17 North Americans, and as well as 3rd (in '94 and again in '00). The only reason I replaced it was because it was starting to delaminate in small (quarter-sized) areas. I figured I got my use out of it.

I kept the white sail when I sold the boat last spring - the guy that bought it is still using the '92 sail.