Sail Maintenance
Categories:
Skipper’s Corner | Sails
By Dick Wischer
Always take along some rip stop tape or some good quality scotch filament tape to repair damage to your sails. Sails can get damaged in many ways. We have had geese and swans fly into them, loosing control of the yacht and it sails into trees whose branches eat sails. In very heavy winds the sails take a beating. This causes the roach to flog itself thin at seams. They then tear easily, now some careful repair is in order. Remember, once you stick tape to most of the sail material we use, it is there to stay. Make a good repair the first time. The suggestion that you stick down the sail with low stick double face tape to a flat clean surface makes sense. Now when you make a repair the sail will be smooth and not jump up at your repair tape. Static electricity causes a lot of our material to want to move around when we approach it with tape.
Another thing that can help sails last longer is to loosen all lines when you store the sails after a days racing. If you have mylar sails and think they can take a lot of abuse, you have another think coming. The problem is, unless you have no seams in the sail, every seam and the tape that holds it or stitching, is a potential place to give and stretch. Sails then take on a slept in look or they fray at the seam. Look at those seams closely with a two and 1 D2 power eye loop some time, you may see a problem in the making. Therefore we suggest relaxing the rig by loosening the lines that adjust the sails. Checking them and reinforcing the area can prevent further damage. Where can you buy an eye loop? Any good stationery or art supply store should carry one. I use it for many things, finding splinters from carbon fiber for instance.
Always take along some rip stop tape or some good quality scotch filament tape to repair damage to your sails. Sails can get damaged in many ways. We have had geese and swans fly into them, loosing control of the yacht and it sails into trees whose branches eat sails. In very heavy winds the sails take a beating. This causes the roach to flog itself thin at seams. They then tear easily, now some careful repair is in order. Remember, once you stick tape to most of the sail material we use, it is there to stay. Make a good repair the first time. The suggestion that you stick down the sail with low stick double face tape to a flat clean surface makes sense. Now when you make a repair the sail will be smooth and not jump up at your repair tape. Static electricity causes a lot of our material to want to move around when we approach it with tape.
Another thing that can help sails last longer is to loosen all lines when you store the sails after a days racing. If you have mylar sails and think they can take a lot of abuse, you have another think coming. The problem is, unless you have no seams in the sail, every seam and the tape that holds it or stitching, is a potential place to give and stretch. Sails then take on a slept in look or they fray at the seam. Look at those seams closely with a two and 1 D2 power eye loop some time, you may see a problem in the making. Therefore we suggest relaxing the rig by loosening the lines that adjust the sails. Checking them and reinforcing the area can prevent further damage. Where can you buy an eye loop? Any good stationery or art supply store should carry one. I use it for many things, finding splinters from carbon fiber for instance.