Repairing my Genoa

[chrisoelder]

Hey! Loaded topic here

A couple weeks ago while tacking my genoa's leech line got caught on the mast and began to rip out of its pocket. The sail itself is pretty old and needs some TLC. The rip is almost the full height of the sail. I am going to have to take down the sail and start sowing her up. I wanted to reach out to get some more heads on this issue. Here are the images of the rip and the line.







1) With the sail in its current condition, is it worth repairing it or should I save the money and buy a new Jib/Genoa?
2) I attempted to take the sail down this past weekend but couldn't get it off its roller furling, how is the heck do you do that? I can't find much online, other than tie down the port and starboard sheets and loosen the halyard.
3) With the rip being this large (almost the full length of the sail), should I invest/rent a sewing machine to complete the project or should I use a speedy stitcher?
4) Does anyone have any recommendations of what strength threat, needle gauge, and what dacron tape to use?

Very new to repairing sails, sorry for my ignorance

Thanks!

 

[mfield]

The sailrite site is very helpful with lots of videos and materials. For example:

https://www.sailrite.com/Repair-Maintenance/Repair-and-Maintenance-Tapes

is a good source for tapes and repair materials.

Of course the Sailrite is largely devoted to selling you equipment to perform these tasks, and make things look easy, but is still worthwhile.

I believe your first course of action should be the standard "thread-picking" where you pull on the existing stitching. If it gives way then it is probably sun-damaged and you will have a lot to repair.

I think it is fun fixing these things but a challenge is getting a large enough space for working on sails. I recently had to take a sail to a park just to get enough space to fold it up - this provided a lot of entertainment for the locals.

 

[Loren Beach]

Repair or Replace??

As long as you only spend your time, and you like the learning that comes with spending your time, go for it.
Otherwise shop around for a new sail. If you do that, use the opportunity to assess whether the overlap you have now is what you need going forward.
For example... a friend of mine has been selling Lee Sails for over 20 years and can provide a decent quality dacron sail for a very good price. Even the national lofts often have sales and specials (announced and unannounced) where they can compete with the "mail order" loft pricing. Shop around.

Decades ago, I used to rep for a big loft and still remember the "#2 pencil test" I learned from the sail makers----- if you can run that weight of sharp pencil under the stitching and the stitching breaks, the stitching is shot.
High Tech testing procedure!

 

[Christian Williams]

Speedy Stitcher sewing awl will work to fix the leech tape. Took me 12 hours to do 25 feet.

The sail looks shot, though. At least check with Lee sails, as Loren says.

Won't come down? Perhaps the genoa halyard is off its sheave at the masthead. Roller furling jibs seldom get taken down, so they can stick. Apply force. If the sail rips you'll know you need a new one.

A roller-furler genoa that won't come down is a safety hazard. True of a sticking mainsail, too. If unexpected wind arrives we are at its mercy, often helpless to motor or maneuver. This hazard is not commonly appreciated.

 

[chrisoelder]

Probably will have to replace

Thank you @mfield @Loren Beach @Christian Williams for the info and advice.

The more research I do the more I am coming to terms that will have to replace the sail. I am thinking that I don't need the extra length in the sail, this way the genoa doesn't have to rub against the mast so much when tacking.

@loren Beach do you have a connection that I could reach out to Lee Sails? I'm very inexperienced with measurements and sizing of these and will need some help and suggestions.

Both of the sails are probably the same age, is it worth buying a new main as well?

Is buying used a bad idea with sails?

Thanks! Chris

 

[Christian Williams]

All you need is a long tape measure:

http://thesailwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/web_store_TSW.cgi?page=measure.html

Many of us are happy with 120 percent overlap genoa (your current genoa might be much bigger overlap than that).

Benefit of a new genoa with a foam luff: you can sail with the genoa furled to 90 percent of J. It makes tacking fast and easy.

I suggest you call Oliver McCann at UK Sails on Abbot Kinney in Venice. He can give an estimate without seeing the boat, since he can look up you stock measurements (sailboatdata.com). He might also have a line on a used sail, or a sail he could recut for you.

It's always good to start with a respected local sailmaker. Oliver will give you a baseline price for comparison to Lee and other budget providers.

After you measure, see what Minney's Yacht Surpus has in stock:

http://www.minneysyachtsurplus.com/sails.html

Most used sails have hanks and will have to be taped for a roller furler.

 

[Loren Beach]

Thank you @mfield @Loren Beach @Christian Williams for the info and advice.

The more research I do the more I am coming to terms that will have to replace the sail. I am thinking that I don't need the extra length in the sail, this way the genoa doesn't have to rub against the mast so much when tacking.

@loren Beach do you have a connection that I could reach out to Lee Sails? I'm very inexperienced with measurements and sizing of these and will need some help and suggestions.

Both of the sails are probably the same age, is it worth buying a new main as well?

Is buying used a bad idea with sails?

Thanks! Chris

My friend Cliff has a long-established Lee Sails friend down in the SF Bay area, but I am not sure about your area in MDR.
Best just to drop him a line. chandcw@comcast.net

Used sails: Hmmmmmm.... It depends.

Another friend of mine once sourced a great main sail from (IIRC) a North loft, thru their in-house inventory - nation wide - of sails that were inventoried because of various reasons. Usually this was due to being a bad fit and/or measured wrong.

So shop around a bit.

Good luck.

 

[chrisoelder]

@Loren Beach @Christian Williams Thank you for your recommendations! I will be reaching out to them over the next few weeks. I have a couple trips to go on before i tackle this.

I will keep yall in the loop!

Thank you so much!!!

 

[frick]

walking foot sewing machine

I have a non sailrite walking foot machine that is a drop dead parts comparable to the sail rite lsz-1 machine.

I have used it for over 15 years now. I paid 285 dollars for it which was less than the cost of having my sacficial sunbrella sew back down.

With this kind of tear it will need a folded 2 inch wide sail tape. Using a hand tool so sew the tape will be very time consuming.
If you have a regular home sewing machine you can buy proper Dacron thread that is small enough to work, but the thin thread will not last as long as the heavy threat UV eats the smaller thread.

https://www.sailrite.com/Tape-Polyester-4oz-White-2-Not-Adhesive-Backed


https://www.sailrite.com/Thread-V-69-White-Polyester-UV-4oz-1-400-Yds

Rick