Hello all,
We had a violent windstorm a few weeks back and my jib (on a roller furl) was not as tight around the forestay as it should have been. The wind got under the edge of the sail and it bellied out a bit and flapped violently for a couple of hours before my marina called me and I could come down and secure it.
It could have been worse, but the sail did sustain some damage in the section where it had opened up, about 8 square feet in the middle of the foot of the sail (or 4 feet long and 2 feet high). I resewed the stitching on a couple of the seams and it looks solid enough, but the whole area is soft and worn now, and flutters loosely in the breeze when the rest of the sail is relatively crisp and tight.
I think a large patch is in order and I have a few questions. For this situation, would it be better to sew or glue a patch on? If I use marine adhesive, will it be flexible enough to roll up around the forestay? Should I do it on one side or both? Are there any good online guides for this?
Most importantly, where can I get the material for a patch of this size? I don't have any extra sails lying around to cut up. Is there a place that sells canvas by the square foot? I could get an old windsurfing sail off ebay for (relatively) cheap, but I'm afraid it is likely to be just as worn down.
Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated.
Jack
We had a violent windstorm a few weeks back and my jib (on a roller furl) was not as tight around the forestay as it should have been. The wind got under the edge of the sail and it bellied out a bit and flapped violently for a couple of hours before my marina called me and I could come down and secure it.
It could have been worse, but the sail did sustain some damage in the section where it had opened up, about 8 square feet in the middle of the foot of the sail (or 4 feet long and 2 feet high). I resewed the stitching on a couple of the seams and it looks solid enough, but the whole area is soft and worn now, and flutters loosely in the breeze when the rest of the sail is relatively crisp and tight.
I think a large patch is in order and I have a few questions. For this situation, would it be better to sew or glue a patch on? If I use marine adhesive, will it be flexible enough to roll up around the forestay? Should I do it on one side or both? Are there any good online guides for this?
Most importantly, where can I get the material for a patch of this size? I don't have any extra sails lying around to cut up. Is there a place that sells canvas by the square foot? I could get an old windsurfing sail off ebay for (relatively) cheap, but I'm afraid it is likely to be just as worn down.
Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated.
Jack
