Is there a size limit for primary and/or secondary reinforcement on Marblehead Class sails? Is the material used for primary and/or secondary reinforcement restricted in any way?

Primary or secondary reinforcement used on Marblehead Class sails is un-restricted in size.

Class Rule G.2.5 (a) requires sails to be soft sails.

ERS G.1.4 (c) defines a soft sail as one where the body of the sail is capable of being folded flat in any direction without damaging the ply other than by creasing.

ERS G.1.4 (a) tells us the body of the sail is the sail excluding areas where parts are added e.g. (ERS G.1.1) sail reinforcements.

Therefore sail reinforcements do not have to comply with the soft sail test.

ERS G.6.1 tells us that primary reinforcement is an unrestricted number of additional layers of ply of permitted material and that secondary reinforcement is not more than two layers of ply of permitted material not thicker than the body of the sail. As there are no restrictions on size the maker is free to use any reinforcement that complies with the restriction on primary reinforcement.

The only requirement is that reinforcement consists of ply of permitted material (there are no restrictions so any material is permitted subject to it being a ply).

ERS G.1.4 (b) defines a ply as a sheet of sail material (which may be made up of a number of layers).

Provided the reinforcement is made up of sail material it is compliant with the Marblehead class rules.