06
Jul
The sailors palm allows you to force the needle through multiple layers of fabric and pliers may be helpful for pulling the needle. Now when patching a sail I first tape the sail flat.
A good pair of pliers to help pull the needle through.
How to repair a sail. Emergency Sail Repair. Will mice chew sail cloth material. This YouTube video shows how I permanently repaired my sails that were chewed up by a mouse.
Nuts and bolts for attaching sail fittings. Spare sail slides and shackles. Fid and bradawl hammer through the sail to make holes for any heavy stitching.
A good pair of pliers to help pull the needle through. Cigarette lighter for sealing the threads. Double sided sticky tape to hold pieces in place rather than pinning.
Eight tips for effective repairs. Keep it flat When stretching out a sail for repair use a table or pontoon. But if youre on board a small boat and struggling for space a floorboard or washboard will give you a portable flat surface.
If you need to repair a sail yourself there are a few things youll need. A clean dry sail a flat surface and patience. If youre sailing in fresh water you can dry the sail with paper towel or a micro-fiber towel.
If youre in salt water rinse the sail well first. If the rip was caused by damage you can use a large patch or even replace the entire panel of the sail. If the rip was more spontaneous its likely that your sailcloth is getting worn and it might be time to consider replacing the sail altogether.
The instructions below are for making permanent repairs to your sail. If youre repairing a rip try to keep the ripped sides as close together as possible. Sew around the perimeter of the patch with zigzag stitches.
Turn the sail over. Carefully cut out the frayed ripped edges of the fabric so a clean edge is left next to the stitches. If your sails are often flogging flapping in the wind the batten in that pocket may eventually chafe through the pockets fabric.
When this happens the pocket or end of the pocket will need to be repaired or replaced. Youll use a seam ripper to remove the top layers of Dacron tape that form the batten pocket. The Kevlar patch contains 2 strong kevlar patches to apply on either side when repairing a laminate racing sail.
This is a transparent high clarity UV and saltwater resistant tape for repairs to sail windows and mylar sails. These are designed for upwind sailing. When the sail is trimmed correctly the leeward tell-tale should stretch evenly backward and the windward tell-tale.
To prevent any heat damage from ironing the shade sail set the iron to low heat and cover the area with a moist cotton cloth - then just apply the tip of the iron to the patch area - just enough to fuse all layers together. Self adhesive sail cloth. AKA insignia cloth the stuff they cut sail numbers and class logos from.
Can be used to reinforce an area. Venture Tape seems to be what sailmakers use for small repairs and maybe also building sails out of laminate panels. Shroud chafe is a common sight on batten pockets and can usually be repaired with a little insignia or Dacron tape.
Spreaders can also cause chafe and puncture holes in sails so an insignia reinforcement patch should always be used wherever the sail comes in contact with standing rigging or stanchions. Now when patching a sail I first tape the sail flat. Using a squeegie I spread the 5200 evenly and thin first filling the rips and then pushing the excess out to the edge where I could scrape it.
If youd like to explore our entire Sail Repair How-To Series click on Marine Projects under the How-To menu on our website. From there you can click the Sail Repair category. Weve got tutorials on how to install a new sail window how to fix rips and holes in your sail how to reinstall a corner ring and more.
MonofilmDacron sail repair patches. Repairing Windsurfing Sails 101. Never in any circumstance use duct tape.
Now lets repair your windsurfing sail. Place a cutting board beneath the sail. Clean the area of the sail that is going to be repaired.
Make a plan of your patch repair. Peel the adhesive across the monofilm. Remove all air bubbles.
And its easy enough. If youre following an existing zigzag stitch you make one pass to stitch on one set of diagonals then reverse direction and fill in the other set. The sailors palm allows you to force the needle through multiple layers of fabric and pliers may be helpful for pulling the needle.
How to Repair Sail Luff Tape - YouTube. Shade sail repairs includes re-stitching joins and the webbing on the perimeter of the sail. When the stitching on a sail fails even if its a small part it is likely that the rest of the stitching will fail in the near term.
It is therefore prudent to repair all stitching. In addition sail repair tape for both Dacron and spinnaker materials larger sections of sail repair material webbing and Venture tape are essential to have on board. Sail Repair Video Series Includes.
Inspecting Your Sails for Next Sailing Season. For seasonal sailors the end of sailing season is a good time to inspect your sails so you have all winter to make repairs and get them ready to go for the springIn this video Jeff Frank our sail designer inspects the sails for the Islander 37 sharing as he goes what issues to look for and how to approach.