Sail Repair solutions

[AndyLaso]

Hey folks,

Looking for some advice from the sail repair pros out there. My genoa’s got a tear about 45 cm long, right at spreader height — straight through one full panel. Looks like classic chafe from the spreaders, plus the sail’s not exactly new anymore. Still hoping to keep it alive for another season!

The rip runs in a clean, vertical line the full height of the panel. I’ve got some sewing skills and plenty of time, but not sure what’s the smarter move here:

just patch the tear itself with a small double-sided Dacron patch (maybe stickyback on both sides and then sew a zigzag over it),
or

go bigger — sew on a large patch first, with about a 20 cm overlap each side, and then cut out the damaged section underneath. My only concern is that a vertical lap seam might not be strong enough in that spot.


Would love to hear what’s worked for others — especially any tricks to stop the tear from reopening at the ends of the repair.

And yeah… buying a new sail is not an option 😄

[Franziska]

Cut two large Dacron patches. Full height of panel. Stick on with basting tape around the perimeter.
See it on around the perimeter. Don't bother cutting out the damaged part of the sail.


We did the same on a slightly smaller damage. Plenty strong and the damage is hardly noticeable.

[PamlicoTraveler]

Looks good for a sail tape and stictch repair, but also consider it ripped for a reason. Why not get a new sail now and enjoy it.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Andy,

How you fix it depends on what you have on hand. You can do it as Franziska suggested, or if you already carry sticky back sailcloth for repairs, you could use that. Plan on 4 to 6" of overlap of the tear, and patch both sides of the sail.

If you have access to a sewing machine that can sew sailcloth, then zigzag stitch the edges of the cloth the whole perimeter. You may have to keep cleaning the sticky off the needle--I use turps and a paper towel. Of course, you can also hand stitch the tear closed first, and the patch will come out better.

*****

Now, all that said, the sail cloth looks very tired to me. There is a simple test to apply. Take a #2 pencil, with a point on it, and see if you can drive it through the cloth by hand. If you can, the fabric is finished. You can still try patching it, but if it is really shot, it will tear again outside the patch. If it does that, and you can't buy a new sail right now, perhaps a used one would see you through the season?

Someone above suggested you look to see if there is something sharp at the spreader tip that started the tear, that's a good idea. And spreader boots also can help.

Ann

[AndyLaso]

Thank you for the advice. I’ll stick a patch on both sides and sew it. I’ve repaired small tears before and often re-stitched disappearing seams, but it’s definitely worth drawing on your experience!!!
This sail is certainly on the edge of its life. It’s 12 years old, with a relatively new UV cover, but five years in the Caribbean and two Atlantic crossings have taken their toll.
Additionally, this particular tear appeared because the roller jammed — when I trimmed the sheet and tried to roll in/out the sail with a broken bearing, it must have pressed hard against the spreaders.
A new sail is on the priority list, but it doesn’t hurt to learn some repair techniques — a bit of experience can always come in handy.

Thank you for the pencil test tip as well — I’ll definitely try it out, just out of curiosity!

[barnakiel]

A vertical rip from UV / stretch (=ageing).


A simple method 1 : lay flat and lock with spinnaker fixing tape, then overlay two 100g dacron patches one each side and zip on the sewing machine - zigzag or triple step.


A simpler method 2 : lay flat and glue one dacron 100g patch each side with 3M 5200 FC, leave 24 hrs to dry. I personally just overpatch the dacron 3M repair with a slightly larger insignia patch) - looks yukie but lasts 10 years+


ps note the 'lay flat' part - make the edges allign perfectly - otherwise there will be a wrinkle somewhere - so make the repair on a large flat area (floor e.g.)


barnakiel

[Kestrahl]

Sailmaker with 27 years experience

1. Keep the patch small, normally a 4 inch wide strip.
2. Use dacron on one side, and stickyback on the other side for less weight.
3. make the stickback patch 1 inch bigger all around compared to the dacron, otherwise it will tear down the side of the patch. The layers need to step down.
4. Sew around the dacron patch but not the stickyback patch

The heavier the patch, the more stress it puts on the cloth around the patch, and the more likely it is to tear in a different location.
Vertical tearing is normally a sign of a lower quality dacron, with a higher aspect ratio.

If the spreader is the sole reason for the tear, then a it maybe worth also adding a full size spreader patch over the top of the repair.