Fed up with UV strip on my Genny

[thinwater]

I would ask around in places that actually have sun (the southern US or the tropics).

Sewn-on Sunbrella covers last until the stitching fails (5-8 years) and can then be resewn by hand for another 5-8 years. More if you don't sail often. The Sunbrella will last the life of the sail, and darker colors block more UV. White sailcloth UV covers are a bad joke--they don't last and they don't actually block UV and they don't last. No glue, that just makes replacement and restitching more difficult.

Do not stitch cover to laminate sails. They'll tear. Try self-adhesive, and don't expect the sail to last well on a furler.

 

[William_H]

Hello Nigel
Re removing glue from leach of sail. You might consider just cutting the sail back by several cm then seal the cut with a soldering iron. This has the advantage of reducing weight of leach so eliminating flutter. No leach cord needed. You might also consider cutting back further near the middle to give a somewhat hollow leach also good for stopping flutter. Was fashionable once. I have 2 jibs that have no hem on leach and they seem to be strong enough. Of course perhaps you could sew on a hem of sail repair tape if you wanted. ol'will

 

[Refueler]

Hello Nigel
Re removing glue from leach of sail. You might consider just cutting the sail back by several cm then seal the cut with a soldering iron. This has the advantage of reducing weight of leach so eliminating flutter. No leach cord needed. You might also consider cutting back further near the middle to give a somewhat hollow leach also good for stopping flutter. Was fashionable once. I have 2 jibs that have no hem on leach and they seem to be strong enough. Of course perhaps you could sew on a hem of sail repair tape if you wanted. ol'will

Your suggestion of cutting the sail is not so crazy as it first reads ... the sail IMHO was cut wrong ... its too long in the foot and cannot be sheeted in properly ... the angle is too steep and instead of lining up to mid luff from clew - it lines up much higher. Reducing the foot would bring the sheeting angle more correct ....

BUT it would also mean losing quite a bit of luff length - the sail is already short ......

But what I could do is take one of my old race sails and give to sailmaker to cut back ...

Present sail is 8.1m luff, 4.15m foot ....

I have an ex race hanked sail of 8.36m x 4.6m ... which could do the job nicely ... have the luff cut back and altered to the 7mm boltrope to fit the furler ... yes - I always expected 8mm ,,, but calipers gave 7mm. The race sdail has a wire inside the luff - which I would want swapped to rope to make sail more manageable.