Sailmakers will tell you that to protect your investment and prolong the useful life of your sails, you should return them to the loft for washing and valeting every winter, as part of the laying-up process.
This is undoubtedly sound advice, not least because it means your sails will be stored in the warm and dry and out of your way while the boat is ashore, but of course such service comes at a price.
For this reason, many owners will prefer to care for their sails themselves. But it is still sensible to take the sails off the boat and out of the weather. They will keep cleaner and last longer. And taking them off will reduce the windage of the boat in its cradle.
It is important to rinse your sails of as much salt as possible, and get them dry, before taking them off the boat and putting them away for the winter - in garage, loft or spare bedroom, if you have the space. If no such space is available, storing them down below on the boat is better than leaving them bent on, but they may still get damp, and they must be placed low down and in the centre of the boat, to help keep it as stable as possible in the cradle.
If you leave sails salty, they will never dry properly, because salt attracts moisture. If they are left damp, they will go mouldy. One technique for desalinating sails is to go sailing in heavy rain, which gives a thorough and highly efficient rinse. The alternative is to hose them off on a quiet day, and hoist them to dry before carefully folding and bagging them, and storing them out of the weather for the winter.
As you fold the sails, inspect them carefully for wear and damage. If you find, for example, a dodgy looking batten pocket on the main, or think the sacrificial strip on the furling genoa is past its best, now is the time to take the sails in for repair. Don't leave it until the spring when sailmakers will be rushed off their feet.
Equally, if your sails are becoming due for replacement, now is the time to order new ones, to be sure of delivery before your want to use them in the spring.
As well as taking the sails off the boat, take off the spray hood, dodgers and sail cover or stackpack, too, and either make or arrange any necessary repairs before putting them away rinsed and dry. All these items will deteriorate if left out in the weather unnecessarily, and they cost a lot to replace. Why shorten their useful lives?
The more gear you strip off your boat now, the less cleaning you will have to do in the spring, and no less importantly, the less windage your boat will have sitting in its cradle, and the safer it will be during the worst of the winter wind and storms.
This is why there are mixed views about the wisdom of putting a cover on your boat while she is laid up ashore. In a nice, sheltered boatyard, a cover will certainly protect your boat from the grime that comes from airborne pollution and all the grit and dust that seems to settle on the boat during the winter.
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However, if the yard is exposed to strong winds (as many are, being by definition on the coast) a cover will increase windage, and may actually cause damage to the boat in winter storms, acting as a sail. Stanchions bent by covers, with the weight of winter winds pressing on them, and in the worst case scenario, the boat can actually be blown out of the cradle.
A flat cockpit cover may be more advisable than an over-boom cover in an exposed yard.
You can always cover individual items, winches for example, separately. You don't need to buy those natty canvas covers, smart as they are. A tough plastic shopping bag will do the job admirably.
