The furling headsail on my Windrose 18 has a tear in it. The sail is two ply and the tear on one ply only and is about 30 inches by 1 inch.
How should I repair this?
How should I repair this?
Sail repair?
- Thread starter pupluv
- Start date
if it was me doing my own repair on a two ply sail, I would very carefully fit a piece of 2" wide sail repair tape INSIDE the tear and get one half of the torn area to lay nicely on the tape, then carefully get the other side to lay down to match it perfectly....
this may be best done by making some index marks across the tear to both "halves" of the torn material before fitting the tape in, so you know where the material should line up while you have your hands in there holding it open so the tape dont stick in the wrong place....
once you have that layed down nicely, then put another piece of tape over the outside of it.... and one larger piece over all of that so it will grab material about 3inches either side of, and past the ends of the tear....
I wouldnt worry about stitching it...
if you wanted to stitch it, you only have two options.... separate the plies at the edge seam, and make the repair as normal... or dont seperate them and just stitch thru the second ply.... Myself, I would rather rely only on the sail tape alone rather than stitch the two plys together for a repair, as I think it will create a hard spot in the "working" of the fabric and cause more serious problems later....
this may be best done by making some index marks across the tear to both "halves" of the torn material before fitting the tape in, so you know where the material should line up while you have your hands in there holding it open so the tape dont stick in the wrong place....
once you have that layed down nicely, then put another piece of tape over the outside of it.... and one larger piece over all of that so it will grab material about 3inches either side of, and past the ends of the tear....
I wouldnt worry about stitching it...
if you wanted to stitch it, you only have two options.... separate the plies at the edge seam, and make the repair as normal... or dont seperate them and just stitch thru the second ply.... Myself, I would rather rely only on the sail tape alone rather than stitch the two plys together for a repair, as I think it will create a hard spot in the "working" of the fabric and cause more serious problems later....
Find a sail shop in your area and talk with them. When you a shop you like take the sail down and have them stitch it for you.
I just had the UV cover on my 150 genoa patched and the seams restitched,cost me $200 but it is a big sail.
Good luck................
I just had the UV cover on my 150 genoa patched and the seams restitched,cost me $200 but it is a big sail.
Good luck................
For a 30 inch long tear, I'd really start worrying about the condition of the rest of the fabric, that it was so weak as to allow this tear to begin with. Of course, maybe it caught something and tore a relatively new sail, but still… There shouldn't be anything on the foredeck to allow a catch and tear that big. If it really is that old, consider a new headsail.
If you took it to a sail loft for repair, they can provide an assessment of the overall sail condition. Perhaps there are worn areas of stitching that need attention, etc, stuff like that.
If you took it to a sail loft for repair, they can provide an assessment of the overall sail condition. Perhaps there are worn areas of stitching that need attention, etc, stuff like that.
I don't know if it is the norm but my local loft has a "Inspect & Repair" service for a flat rate of $99.00. They re stitched any bad stitching, patched a tear and some small holes and reinforced the batten pockets. I was pleased with that.
Sail repair
Thanks for all the responses. The rest of the sail is in good shape. The tear appeared where the sail rubs against sidestays and other hardware when it's opened to genoa size.