The sail broke.
- Thread starter gabriel.donnelly
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You mean it ripped, right? The same thing happened to my Mainsail a couple of years ago and I felt the same way you did.
My sails are old but they are still as stiff as the day I had them made. My big mistake was failing to reef my Main on a puffy day and I had the sail out too far on a beam reach. The batten pocket got caught in one of my spreaders and when my boom suddenly lifted in a puff of wind, it tore a large hole in my sail. I also should have had my boom vang set, but woulda, coulda, shoulda, and didn't. It was too late.
I brought my sail to the same people who made it and the lady there told me that my sail was terminal as she continued to rip it more at the torn area but they could make me a brand new sail for $1170. Of course it's going to tear if you continue to rip it. I could go to Sperry Sail and get a brand new Main for $800. They just wanted to sell me a new sail.
So I brought my Main to North Sails and the guy tried to rip my sail in a different area by pinching the material with the fingers of both hands and guess what? It didn't rip. So I had them replace the bad panel and reinforce the batten pockets with round patches and I'm still using that sail. If your sail material is thin and the sail appears to be blown out, then maybe it's time to replace it, but if the sail is still in good condition for it's age like mine, maybe you can consider having it mended by a sail repair guy. With that said, one of my friends had a set of sails made for his O'Day 22 by Porpoise Sails in your neck of the woods and he is happy with them for the cheap money he paid. It's a very sad and unfortunate thing to go through but I hope it turns out well for you Gabriel. Good Luck!
Joe
Thank you for the kind words. And yes, it was really blowing today. I was running with the wind. And all it took was a violent gust and it just ripped in half. I'm going to call around hopefully find some one to mend it. I'll definitly look up Porpoise Sails. Eeesh. What a day.
- Gabriel
- Gabriel
I know Gabe. With me it's a case of "been there done that" twice. Years ago I had motored out of Bristol Harbor (RI) just before a big squall. My sail was tied to my boom and the wind gust hit me from behind. I wish I'd have turned right into it, but I didn't. It happened so fast that day. That large gust literally tore my sail to shreds at the battens pockets. They were the original Neil Pride sails, and I never owned a sail cover back then. The material was thin and the sail was blown out. The Gennie wasn't in any better condition.
I motored into a cove on Prudence Island and hand sewed that sail so that I could sail the 15 miles back to the river. After that, I went to Thurston Sails and had them make a new set of sails for my boat. This was back in the 1990s and I paid about $1200 for both sails. I also had a sail cover made by some other guy. It was a great cover, but he charged me an arm and a leg for it. I wish I had just bought one off the shelf at some boat store.
That guy also has used sails as well as new. I'd go for a new Mainsail though. Good luck!
Joe
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