Sail repair

[Mrstarskydean]

Having read the item in PBO & watched the video, I'm convinced it is time to invest in some sail repair items. Mentioned is wide, sticky backed, sail repair sheets - to be cut to size. But where to buy them? Force4 only appear to sell tape 100mm wide, Amazon do one 150mm wide.... I have some, what now appears rather lame tape with needle & thread. What are the thoughts of the great and the good of this forum?

 

[awol]

White Dacron Sail Repair Tape 2 Sheets 24cm x 37cm PS1004
Is googling so hard?

 

[Daydream believer]

I have 2 good mainsails & 2 good jibs. If one shows the slightest sign of needing repair I swop them & get it down to the repairers . Obviously not everyone can do that but for the average sailior just taking a sail to the sail maker for service every year is well worth it. If a sail is so old it is going to start falling apart then the answer is simple.
If you are going offshore, or you do not have access to a decent sail maker the problem is somewhat different. In that case some sail cloth from an old sail & a lot of practice at stitching. Plenty of small diameter thread + palm + needles & some adhesive tape to get the sail into shape before you start. It is not as easy as the books make it sound. One can google fairly larger adhesive tape & i know that my sailmaker has some large sheets. Having spent hours repairing a tear one does not want a repeat 2 hours later.
on longer trips I always carry 2 identical jibs .

 

[Mrstarskydean]

White Dacron Sail Repair Tape 2 Sheets 24cm x 37cm PS1004
Is googling so hard?

Not sure, obviously beyond me, so thank you for the info.

 

[differentroads]

My admittedly limited experience is that over a larger area than the widely available tapes you will need to sew a repair eventually rather than rely on sticky repair sheets. And hand sewing through adhesive coated material soon becomes no fun. I've done it for about 4m when making a wind chute from an old sail.

Hand sewing might be slow but it provides full strength instantly no matter the dryness or cleanliness of the sailcloth whereas contact adhesives require clean grease free material and then, I imagine, time to adhere at full strength

I carry a variety of shapes and sizes cut out of an old sail and double sided 'basting' tape to hold them in place while I sew.

I'll be happy to be corrected by a sailmaker on my qualms aboutself adhesive sail repair patches, mind you. It'd make life easier when it comes to fixing a tear while our at sea.

 

[lustyd]

Not sure, obviously beyond me, so thank you for the info.

The nice thing is that when someone Googles this tomorrow this friendly thread will be there to tell them the answer, so really you've done the Internet a favour by creating some knowledge.

 

[Roberto]

I have a sewing machine which can handle most repairs, but for larger patches I usually cut a large overlapping piece of dacron cloth from an old genoa, then use contact glue to stick it to the teared sail. The area being sometimes large, some care is needed when joining the two pieces as contact glue effect is immediate, despite the appearance "non stick to the finger".
If possible I then make a few rounds of stitches all around, if not possible the glued patch has shown to work perfectly well by itself.

 

[fredrussell]

White Dacron Sail Repair Tape 2 Sheets 24cm x 37cm PS1004
Is googling so hard?

Is being polite so hard?

 

[scottie]

Is being polite so hard?

On a forum that is perhaps debatable

 

[Daydream believer]

Is being polite so hard?

Or as Monty Python would have called it- "the bleeding obvious"

 

[fredrussell]

To quote (amongst others) the great Cosmo Kramer, courtesy is the glue that holds society together. I realise forums are held together by JavaScript, or some other exciting medium, but still...