Altering a sail yourself

[Orchidius]

Hi there,

I've got the option to buy a windseeker/drifter/reacher (one of those big genoa's made of spinnakercloth), but it's luff is about 2ft too long, so essentially the bottom 2ft of the sail have to go to make it fit...

The whole sail is made out of spinnakercloth, so it's easy enough to cut. Is it reasonable to assume I could cut this myself, and copy the reinforcementpatches as they were originally installed on the sail (same amount of layers in the corners, same stitching,...)? What's important to keep in mind?

Cheers!

[svTOTEM]

1. Maybe can get by with zig-zag machine (depends on cloth), but triple stitch is better.
2. Removing 2' from the tack will lower the clew by 2' also. So you need to be sure the clew isn't too low and that the sheeting location is ok.
3. If those 2 items fine - then use seam ripper to remove foot tape. Then use a long batten to draw fair foot curve from clew to new tack location.
4. Use existing tack patch/ring, by cutting out of sail (or as much as you can up to 2'). Stick/sew old tack patch into place where new tack is - simplifies reconstruction.
5. Reattach foot tape and tweak luff tape/attachment method as required.
6. If clew height is adversely affected and cannot recut at tack, getting correct geometry is still possible, but more complicated.
Good luck!

[Blue Crab]

Thanks for that great post.