Sails of Silver now sported the same line-up that had brought it to the height of its success, "Sails of Silver" has often been seen as embodying a different spirit from their classic albums of the 1970s. Prior to "Sails of Silver", the band had always performed songs written by other people, predominantly traditional songs, but also a few 20th century pieces, such as the two Brecht songs on "Storm Force Ten". But on this album they included several songs they had written themselves, including "Let Her Go Down" and "Senior Service". This was the beginning of a trend that continues down to
North Sails the 3DL line of upwind sails in 1992. In the 3DL manufacturing process, aramid or carbon fiber yarns and layers of polyester (PET) film are laid over a computer-controlled mold that is configured to assume the airfoil shape of the sail, and then thermo-formed to produce a laminated sail with the intended three-dimensional shape. North Sails manufactures 3DL sails in facilities in Minden, Nevada, and Sri Lanka. In 2009, North Sails began using pre-impregnated tapes of carbon and UHMPE fibers on its full-sized articulating molds. When thermomolded, the layers of reinforcing material consolidate to form a seamless composite sail membrane,