DIY UV strip

[handygirl]

I have just bought my first (small) cruiser and I am giving her a bit of a girlie makeover inside and out. She has fairly old (original 1983) but serviceable sails - except that the roller genny has no UV strip and the edge is showing wear. This is my "practice boat" and I cannot afford to spend too much on her. I would like to add a UV strip myself as I am pretty handy with a machine - has anyone done this themselves? I would like to know (a) how wide to make this and (b) do I bias-cut the edging to apply it or do I run with the grain of the sail?

many thanks in advance!

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[Davolas]

we replaced the UV strip on our sail some years ago. It is not too difficult, but may be beyond a domestic sewing machine. We have a Reeds sail maker and that worked well but still struggled at the corners where there are multiple layers of reinforcing patches which we had to hand stitch. Try 3 or 4 layers on your machine and see how it copes.

With regard to application, make sure you use proper UV resistant cloth as we were initially sold some (by a sailmaker ) and had to replace it again after a year.

I don't think the grain of the material is too important we just cut down the roll to the width of the strip and used this. The important thing is that it applied flat to the sail without any tension. The wind loading must be taken by the sailcloth if it is put into the UV strip it will tend to tear the stitching.

It is best to position the UV strip with double sided tape to hold it while stitching. If you pull the sail out and stretch it into its normal shape after tapping the strip on, you will be able to see that it sits OK and if there is any tension in the UV strip it will pull it off the tape and you can adjust it.

Be carefull not to stitch through the leach line if you have one.

When cutting the cloth, sailmakers use a hot knife which seals the thread ends. we used (carefully) a knife heated over a gas hob and held with an oven glove, heat until it just melts a trial piece of material then run along the cut line. on a backing piece of plywood or similar

I think our UV strip was something like 10" wide but you will probably be able to see a fade line on the sail which it needs to cover, or put the sail on the furler and measure the maximum amount of exposed leach and use this width plus say 2 to 3 inches.

Good luck

Steve & Christine



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[Gunfleet]

I use a domestic sewing machine to make acriclic canvas stuff for the boat (thank you boys, quieten down now). The trick is to use leather quality needles. The one on my (professionally made ) sail is bias cut but I don't know why. Width? Mine's about 9" but you could always experiment with brown paper and the sail. Cheers
John

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[handygirl]

thanks guys for the HUGELY helpful (and speedy!!) replies. I have already ordered UV acrylic canvas and some double sided tape, and thought to use the technique you propose. I suspect bias is best as it is stretchier, so no tension on the strip - however the edges are more likely to fray. The lack of hot knife worried me for this reason - thanks for that tip. I take it the strip is sewn flat - i.e. without edge turned under? Edges turned under would stop fraying but makes cloth thicker still at stitching....... Also, is there any wrapped around to the back of the sail at all?

I really must try and have a good look at one - I have seen (and used!) loads but never paid attention to the detail

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[WayneS]

and now for a man's question, what on earth is bias cut.

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[AndrewB]

Acrylic is recommended because it is UV proof, but it is expensive, heavy, and difficult to work. There is no reason why ordinary, reasonably rot-proof and light-proof material shouldn't be used. It will only last 3 seasons, but if you are into DIY and money-saving, or are simply giving an old sail a little more lease of life, this seems a perfectly practicable alternative. In the past we have done this for our sail covers and a rolling headsail. Incidentally, for the latter, cleaning off the glue from the old strip was a nightmare. I resorted to acetone in the end, which probably did more damage than a year's UV. I will definitely specify a stitched-only UV strip next time.

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[Courageous]

DON'T FORGET THE FOOT!! Sorry but wanted to catch you before you started stitching.... hehe! Didn't see anyone mentioning running some along the length of the foot of the sail or you may end up with an unprotected length down 't bottom where the clew has ridden up the way. Width of that piece?? Well depends on how much higher the clew sits above the tack when the sail is set as against the length of the foot I suppose....... Mine's a 140% Genoa on an Oceanis 351 and am guessing now at an overlap in the region of two and a half to three inches on this piece.

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[pwc51]

If your jib is not overlapping then you can get a clear self adhesive UV strip. We have had one on our self tacking jib for over 10 years. The material will not tolerate thrashing against the mast on every tack.

Another alternative, we are having one made for our new jib, is to have a zipped tube which is hoisted up on a spare halyard at the end of play.

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[handygirl]

hi Wayne / guys

delay in reply = recovering from a bank hol weekend sail (overnight) round the Mull of Kintyre to Oban - fabtastic!!!!

bias cut is at 45 degrees to the grain of the fabric

I had a good look around the marina looking at rolled gennies (v. suspiscious!!) and most seem to be straight cut so I will probably go that way

fabric here - off to buy leather needles!

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[AndrewB]

Good luck, don't forget to post a pic when you've done it, you might pick up a few orders from some of us!

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