Sorting a Shrunken Bolt Rope?

[Little Rascal]

It's been brought to my attention that the bolt rope on my main has shrunk, making the luff all rucked and meaning I can't properly tension it with the halyard.

The fix appears to be unstitching the bolt rope at the tack, stretching out the luff and re-stitching it.

I've already had some help on this but as this is my first time doing any sort of sail repair, I still have a few questions:
- What sort of rope should I use for the small replacement bit?
- What stitches would anyone reccomend?
- What thread should I use?

All help much appreciated....
Thanks!

 

[oldharry]

Is it worth it? Its not the rope that has shrunk, its the sail material that has stretched, and will be baggy and out of shape. New sail and you will be surprised how much better she handles! Less heeling, less weather helm, closer to the wind.

 

[wilkinsonsails]

Best way is to tension the sail between two strong points.Best not to cut thru the whipping around the tack,.The best way is to let it go at the headboard and give it a good bounce,lean on it .You should hear it move down.NB sail gets longer too.Then resieze it once you have evened out the sailcloth along the rope.
You may then have an empty tape at the top.Poke down another short section of rope into empty bit and sew thru that if the sail is bolt rope fed.
Cindy

 

[smeaks]

Is it worth it? Its not the rope that has shrunk, its the sail material that has stretched, and will be baggy and out of shape. New sail and you will be surprised how much better she handles! Less heeling, less weather helm, closer to the wind.

Yes yes yes ! I had great problems eeking windward performance out of my boat when I first got her. I had the benift of advice from Steve dowthwait (Tyneside sail maker) he demonstrated the bolt rope had shrunk, he expertly effected an extension and when fitted it was like a different boat. Do it before considering new sails.

 

[Lakesailor]

Best way is to tension the sail between two strong points.Best not to cut thru the whipping around the tack,.The best way is to let it go at the headboard and give it a good bounce,lean on it .You should hear it move down.NB sail gets longer too.Then resieze it once you have evened out the sailcloth along the rope.
You may then have an empty tape at the top.Poke down another short section of rope into empty bit and sew thru that if the sail is bolt rope fed.
Cindy

I'm pleased you said that.
I suggested that on the other thread but couldn't remember your forum name to refer to. I'd have looked a silly sod if you'd said something entirely different

 

[Seajet]

Little Rascal,

I have to say I'm with Old Harry on this one.

while Cindy's advice must be good and worth a try, I know from bitter experience - racing dinghies with 20 year old sails against sponsored gits who changed sails at a max of 6 months - that a new/er sail is probably the only real cure, and I'm not talking about racing or as a purist.

There are some outfits local to me offering secondhand sails who I know wouldn't recognise a good sail if it strolled up and kicked them in the shins, but Westaways seem a good bet, I get all my new sails from them in the rare moments of having the dosh available.

 

[Little Rascal]

Thanks Cindy, it makes sense to do it that way round actually...

Can anyone point me in the right direction for sail repair tools? ie needles and approriate thread?

Thanks

PS My original concern was that I didn't have enough tension on the luff and I was going to just put the halyard on a winch. It was Lakesailor that diagnosed the shrunken bolt rope (Thanks Lakie!)