Torn Sail

[jetboatn]

Sailed my 23.5 hunter for the first time today!!! This was my first time to sail and I was having a blast! Everything went ok untill I pulled on the rear lower sail and it tore. I guess the sail material is no good. Can a 4 inch tear at the seam be patched? Who has the best prices on new and used sails. They say the wind is free but by golly sailboat parts arent free!!!! Thanks

 

[Steve Dion]

If you owned a power boat you would know what expense is! $200 worth of fuel will probably not get you through a weekend.

As for a sail you can check out Minney's Yacht Surplus in Costa Mesa, CA or Bacon Sails.

You can repair the sail, but chances are it was shot a long time ago.

If you are interested in a new sail, this site is one of the best places to purchase a new quality sail.

 

[Steve Dion]

Here try this!

http://hunter.sailboatowners.com/in...ce&page=show_ad&catid=19&adid=2986&Itemid=220

Will this fit your boat?

 

[tomperanteau]

We recently had our jib tear while lufting during a tack. We took it down and used sail tape on both sides. We've used it in sailing to Catalina Island several times and it has held up well so far.

 

[Alan]

Repair or not is pretty much a factor of the life remaining in the cloth. If you were able to tear it by simply trimming the sail it's a sure sign the cloth is done.
Check out Bacon Sails or Atlantic Sail Traders for used sails. Both have been around for years and are fair with their pricing.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Best $25 I ever spent
The Sail maker’s Apprentice. Lots of stuff on making your own sails and repairing them. To answer your question, any rip can be repaired but like Alan indicated, if the basic cloth is shot it is a band-aid approach at best. With that said, the most common failure of sails is the seam threads. The UV light rots them faster than the sail cloth and the seam lets go. So you may just need to re-stitch or use a patch if the stitching holes are torn and you are good to go for another season. It would give you more time to save up for a new sail in any case and keep you sailing!!!!

 

[Sublime]

Look and see if it's the thread that ripped or the cloth. On mine, the thread is failing along the leech but the cloth itself is fine. It's at a sail loft and for $75 they're going to restitch the entire leech.

 

[inarathree]

Another test (and I have seen this done at several sail lofts in St Petersburg, FL, including the OEM for my '85 H22 sail) is to fold the sail cloth, anywhere, and see if you can rip the cloth across the fold. If you can its time for a new sail.

I agree with those above, that if the problem is only with the leech, a loft will fix it. Some rips and tears can be repaired with sail tape, but that is only a temp solution, meant to help you get back, not a permanent fix. I have repaired several Hobie sails, by going do a local loft, and asking for scraps, and stitched two rows of zigzag around the patchs on both sides of the sail over the tear, but those were on good sails, and relatively short rips, 2' or less. I also put as short of of a zig zag stitch perpendicular about an inch past the end of the tear. Just to help keep it from tearing any further.

 

[jetboatn]

It was really nice when I shut down the outboard and sailed for the first time!!! Very Peaceful! I am used to a 460 ford jetboat motor running!!! Thank you all for the replys!!