While hauling down the last 4 feet of the mainsail of my '88 Hunter 26.5 last night, the sail ripped. It's the original main which was cleaned and resined 2 years ago and will now probably need to be replaced this Winter. I'm looking to use it for 4 more weeks before haul out. Any ideas on temporary repair beyond duct tape? Also any recommendations on who to go to for replacing the sail will be appreciated. Thanks. Glenn WindWisp
Temporary Sail Repair
- Thread starter Glenn Bollin
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Sail Tape
You can try Sail Tape. I have a roll onboard just incase! It's white and won't stand out like duct tape. I used it once on my jib in almost the same situation, and it worked for me.
You can try Sail Tape. I have a roll onboard just incase! It's white and won't stand out like duct tape. I used it once on my jib in almost the same situation, and it worked for me.
Same thing happened to me.
I blew out my main about 5 weeks ago and I was in exactly the same dilema as you. I had mine re-resined 2 years ago, also. I decided to get the sail sewn. It was a 10' tear along the first reef. I figured I'd finish the season with it. It cost me $165 to repair and I had it back within the week. I then ordered a new main sail at the Newport Boat show last weekend. If I had to do it again, I would not have had it repaired because I've only used it once since I had it repaired. And then, the wind died that day. This late in the season many sailor tend not to head out.
I blew out my main about 5 weeks ago and I was in exactly the same dilema as you. I had mine re-resined 2 years ago, also. I decided to get the sail sewn. It was a 10' tear along the first reef. I figured I'd finish the season with it. It cost me $165 to repair and I had it back within the week. I then ordered a new main sail at the Newport Boat show last weekend. If I had to do it again, I would not have had it repaired because I've only used it once since I had it repaired. And then, the wind died that day. This late in the season many sailor tend not to head out.
Sail Repair
In addition to the below recommendations about using sail tape, how about just buying some sailcloth and sewing on a patch yourself? Depending on how large (or small) the patch is, hand-sewing is not that hard and since you are going to replace the sail, you don't really care too much about how it looks. Also, another alternative is something I read about, but have not tried, in a "Sail" mag some time ago: cut some strips of sail cloth and glue them on each side of the sail using, of all things, 3M5200 Fast Cure. According to the article, this really worked well, but you need to be very careful when pressing the goo out from the edges of the patch. Worth a try.
In addition to the below recommendations about using sail tape, how about just buying some sailcloth and sewing on a patch yourself? Depending on how large (or small) the patch is, hand-sewing is not that hard and since you are going to replace the sail, you don't really care too much about how it looks. Also, another alternative is something I read about, but have not tried, in a "Sail" mag some time ago: cut some strips of sail cloth and glue them on each side of the sail using, of all things, 3M5200 Fast Cure. According to the article, this really worked well, but you need to be very careful when pressing the goo out from the edges of the patch. Worth a try.
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