Sailrite Sail Kits

[MikeHoncho]

Started my Laser sail kit today and I’m very impressed. It is well laid out and the instructions are clear. The only thing I would include in them is a sequence of work flow. There is a key to the workflow given the size of the project pieces vs the capacity of a Sailrite machine. I also feel the sail is a little overbuilt compared to previous Laser sails I have had. Extra reinforcements compared to Laser spec sails. I’d be very happy with its construction on my Hunter 30 but as a racing dinghy it’s a little overkill. The price is just a touch under a made practice sail but I wanted to give it a try. Looking at kits for my Hubter 30, the pricing is about 1/3 of a comparable, professionally made sail. I think I know we’re my next set is coming from!

 

[Ken Cross]

I've never sewn a sail but we got some canvas kits from them and we're very happy with them on our previous boat. The only issue was it was a little bit heavy work for my wife's hobby type sewing machine. I'm probably lucky I didn't break her machine. But I must say I was impressed with the company.

 

[MikeHoncho]

I've never sewn a sail but we got some canvas kits from them and we're very happy with them on our previous boat. The only issue was it was a little bit heavy work for my wife's hobby type sewing machine. I'm probably lucky I didn't break her machine. But I must say I was impressed with the company.

The Sailrite machines are pretty impressive. I almost didn’t get the zigzag model. I’m glad I did.

 

[Hayden Watson]

We built the 135% and very large assym spinnaker from SailRite kits. I thought that their instructions were very clear and provided plenty of sequence of construction guidance. The 135% was 438 square feet and weighed about 35lbs once completed. The Spinnaker was 773 square feet.

 

[Garbonzo]

So, the long arm version of the sailrite machine is pretty much required for a sail kit build (maybe not the laser). It is just WAY to hard to get a full section of heavy sail material through the arm. They will tell you that if you ask about a kit. My Gaff schooner sails were to big a task. Now cutting down a used sail to work is a possible task that can be completed using the standard machine. I have had my sailrite machine for almost 30 year and it has never missed a beat..

 

[Hayden Watson]

So, the long arm version of the sailrite machine is pretty much required for a sail kit build (maybe not the laser). It is just WAY to hard to get a full section of heavy sail material through the arm. They will tell you that if you ask about a kit. My Gaff schooner sails were to big a task. Now cutting down a used sail to work is a possible task that can be completed using the standard machine. I have had my sailrite machine for almost 30 year and it has never missed a beat..

We did the spinnaker and 135% genoa for our C30 on the LSZ1. You need to roll the piece you are adding into a long sausage which will fit easily through the arm of the machine.

 

[Garbonzo]

Emphasis on the we, I hope.. sewing a straight line while feeding the sausage (apt term) through the machine by yourself is quite a recipe for a crooked line. I can see the spinnaker, but man that 135% must have been entertaining.

 

[Hayden Watson]

...I can see the spinnaker, but man that 135% must have been entertaining.

It was fun. We borrowed six 6' folding tables from our church and set them up end-to-end with the sewing table in the center. That gave us a 2' wide by 36' long sewing table with 18' in front and 18' behind. The longest sausage was just over 16' long so it was fully supported from start to finish of all of the broad-seams. The infeed table started in the family room, past the kitchen island and had the sewing machine on the other side of the kitchen. The outfeed table went through the doorway between the kitchen and the dinning room and ended a couple of inches from the far wall of that room. It was about 24" short of the full width of the house.
To finish off the leech and luff tapes, we when down to the fellowship hall at church and set up every table in the building to make a huge sewing table that was about 20'x30' so that Sue could sew sitting at a table instead of on the ground. I spent my time running around the table pushing and pulling the cloth as directed.

 

[jssailem]

I spent my time running around the table pushing and pulling the cloth as directed.

That would have been an interesting fire drill to video.