Sail inspection and repairs diy

[francois.lavoie]

The sailing season is coming. I have my genoa and main sail at home. Last year I have bought a old Pfaff 160 in very good condition. I have been looking for threads on inspecting sails and repairing sails and found some, but maybe not enough for such a newcomer to sailing.

I have a 1995 catalina 250 sailboat that I bought at the end of 2018. This summer will be my third year with this boat. The sails seem to be made of dacron. Compared to the genoa, my main sail is more rigid and seems in good shape with the visual inspection that I was able to perform.

The genoa has lost much of its rigidity, but it is not in the state of a rag. Some stitches are missing at some places, but at most places it seems to hold. At some places, the fabric on the edge is somewhat frayed. The genoa seemed to have been recut and the wholes of former stitches appear on some lenghts of the fabric.



Here is what I found on:
Inspection and some tips on repairing sails:
https://www.cruisingworld.com/story/...inspect-sails/
http://sailoradvice.com/what-are-sai...spection-tips/

Within this forum:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ll-244687.html

Sewing videos:
Sailrite as many:
https://www.sailrite.com/How-To-Proj...earning-to-Sew
Quantum sails on sewing a patch:
https://www.quantumsails.com/en/reso...keep-your-sail

My skills with the sewing machine are not refined. Although, I have managed to adjust the thread tension adequately. Today I have sewn and secure with a zigzag stitch the straps the clew of the genoa. I wonder if using too much thread could be a problem.

Any suggestion or viewing of videos or further reading on the topic on mending sails would be appreciated.

Thanks so much.

[cal40john]

I mostly look at how the sail was built in the first place. I copy the stitch length and width more or less. When I put a patch in I overlap it about the same as the seams on the panels.

My sewing skills are pretty poor, I'm not good at keeping the stitch length even as I let the cloth slip on the foot. It didn't help that our club's Pfaff had a sticky clutch and a very high speed motor. Stitch speed 0 to 200 in zero time as the clutch grabbed.

I think sail repair is pretty easy to make functional repairs. Trying to reshape a blown out sail I have never made a serious attempt at.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Look at the shape of the sail when sailing. if it's flabby and you can't trim it correctly any more and it's shape is more that of an old potato sack, the sail is due for replacement.


If you have the original pattern, you might be able to recut it, but if that has already been done once, i doubt it'll help a lot if you try it again.

[francois.lavoie]

This boat is 25 years old. I imagine that the sails have been changed already. I just want to be able to make the season without trouble. I might upgrade to a bigger boat next year, thus I prefer spending some money on the necessities: a vhf-dsn radio and maybe solar panels to get a small fridge with compressor. If I do an additional season with the boat, I might change the genoa.

[Joh.Ghurt]

François, that makes sense. If the sail isn't in tatters, then it'll just be inefficient and might rip more easily. I've sailed for years with shapeless sails.

[chasmains]

Order a copy of Don Casey’s complete illustrated sailboat maintenance manual. ISBN 0-07-146284-4. It’s got a chapter on canvas and sail repair. Fabulous book for novice and intermediate folks. It also has a chapter on inspecting the aging sailboat. It’s on Amazon.

[francois.lavoie]

This book is a real encyclopedia with its 900 pages. There would be some free ebook edition it you give your email address:
https://www.scribd.com/book/47995689...ilboat-Refinis