I can't argue with this. Hopefully when the loft cleans the sails, they also clean the lines
WHY DO WE DO THIS?
- Thread starter twodzusfittings
- Start date
I agree that it can be convenient, or even necessary to hire help here, but there isn't a sail loft or rigger anywhere that is going to do it for $20-40. Almost certainly 10x that price in most places.
Mark
You’re probably right. But if It cost over $200 per sail, etc., I’d do it myself, maybe with the help of some crew. I helped a dock neighbor get his mainsail bagged a few weeks ago. It’s not worth paying $200 for, etc.Maybe $200 for both main and headsail, 38 ft boat. Mainsail costs over $5,000 to build.
Last edited:
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,786
Is it possible that boat owners never learned how to fold their sails and store them.
I look on it like I approach taking care of my car, folding my clothes after they came from the dryer, or putting my shoes in the closet before I go to bed. It is just what you do if you are away from the boat or there is a storm coming and the boats going to be in the marina for the month. It is sad to walk on the dock and see the head sails shredded like tattered laundry.
I look on it like I approach taking care of my car, folding my clothes after they came from the dryer, or putting my shoes in the closet before I go to bed. It is just what you do if you are away from the boat or there is a storm coming and the boats going to be in the marina for the month. It is sad to walk on the dock and see the head sails shredded like tattered laundry.
Another reason to take the furled genny down over the winter:
Although sail shape deterioration is one reason to replace sails, the driver for us has been the deterioration of the threads on the luff of the furled genny where they are exposed to UV rays from the sun. On our first 110 genny this caused the straps holding the ring for the sheets to the clew to peel off on our way home from the North Channel. I had a sail repair kit, and could sew the straps back in place, but all the threads along the luff including the peak are exposed in the same way. The threads were simply falling off!
Although the sun is dimmer through the winter, leaving the furled genny up for 4-6 months would certainly accelerate this deterioration of luff threads by a few years. This would then cause replacement or expensive repair before the 10 year life of the Dacron sail shape.
A high wind did get into our furled genny this past spring, unfurlimg it enough to destroy it. And high winds are more common in the layup months. An urfurled sail would dramatically increase the tipping force of the wind on the boat.
Although sail shape deterioration is one reason to replace sails, the driver for us has been the deterioration of the threads on the luff of the furled genny where they are exposed to UV rays from the sun. On our first 110 genny this caused the straps holding the ring for the sheets to the clew to peel off on our way home from the North Channel. I had a sail repair kit, and could sew the straps back in place, but all the threads along the luff including the peak are exposed in the same way. The threads were simply falling off!
Although the sun is dimmer through the winter, leaving the furled genny up for 4-6 months would certainly accelerate this deterioration of luff threads by a few years. This would then cause replacement or expensive repair before the 10 year life of the Dacron sail shape.
A high wind did get into our furled genny this past spring, unfurlimg it enough to destroy it. And high winds are more common in the layup months. An urfurled sail would dramatically increase the tipping force of the wind on the boat.
