Why are the sails on sailboats often (the majority of the time) white?

Question

Why are the sails on sailboats often (the majority of the time) white?

Answer 1

Could be to do with Pirates har de ha ha ha! like white means surrender or peace whereas black with skull and crossbones means your in the poo. I don't know just a thought.

Answer 2

it was the natural color at one time.

Answer 3

all the better to been seen my dear...

Answer 4

I'm just guessing... but I think mainly because the canvas they were made out of is naturally white and expensive to dye (dyes would just wash out anyway), and also during warfare they helped disquise the ship as a distant cloud.

Answer 5

Traditionally sails were made from canvas which was off-white in its natural (and therefore cheapest) form. Modern sails copy this tradition for the most part.

Answer 6

As well as the technical reason now, White reflects light the best, so at night.. easier to be spotted :)

Answer 7

The original sailcloth was linen canvas. it was usually left white or dyed brown because of cost. All other colours tend to fade in the sun to brown or white anyway. The nylon, Dacron and other materials were originally white for the same reason. Besides cost and tradition the white colour is favoured because it is so extremely visible. This is an important safety feature. As the textile companies develop colours that do not fade and are very bright more colours are appearing. Just take a look at the hues used on Spinnaker jibs lately. But yes the colour white is still the norm for working suits of sail, both mains and jibs.