Spinnaker repair

[sailingharry]

So my racer tendencies had my asym up in more wind than my cruiser-budget asym could handle. Damn.


The Asym is of unknown age, but decent condition, on a Saga 43. We use it a lot. It was a second hand sail, and I've long felt that it was too long in the luff. Some research today indicates that it could be as much as 2 feet too long in the luff.


So, the damage. About 8' down from the head, the reinforcement ends. About 6" below that line, the sail parted fairly cleanly all the way across, and then proceeded to strip the tapes. On the leach, it basically split at or near the stitching -- there is no visible sailcloth on the tape. On the luff, it tore, but a fairly consistent 6-8" back from the tape. Both sides tore about 30'.


Sailmakers have responded to emails describing the damage with ballparks of $700-$2000. Both have worked on my sails and know me, and the range makes sense given the email basis of the quotes. I may take it into my local loft (I live 90 minutes south of Annapolis, Quantum is local and North is in Annapolis). Problem is that a new sail seems to run about $5K, so this is a very significant cost on a sail that is fairly old.


Time to consider DIY. I'm decent with my Sailrite machine. Here's my approach.


First, address luff length. I'd take the tear, overlap it about 18" (remember, I think my luff is 1-2 feet too long) and run several rows of stitching. This would be into the "head patch" area. Because the sail has significant taper in this area, I'll have about 8-10 inches too much width on each side -- to be addressed in the next step.


I'll take the tapes and remove the stitching. My tapes are white and blue, 3" tape folded in half. Oddly, sailrite only sells 3" in white, and doesn't sell blue (yeah, I could replace the entire blue with green), and doesn't fold colors (so the colored tape would be too small and manually folded -- ugh). So re-use unfortunately is the plan.


Then I'll cut both edges clean and smooth. The leach is easy, as it is mostly perfect. I'll have to taper the excess fabric at the overlap. The luff is a bit more concern, as I'll be cutting 8-10 inches of fabric off the entire length (and tapering into the head).


I know this won't be a first rate sail when I'm done, but it wasn't before the accident. My questions are:
* Will the overlap/shortening at the head drastically affect trimability and sail shape
* Will cutting nearly a foot off the luff drastically affect trimability and sail shape?
I think the answers to both are "no" and this will get me through the season quickly and cheaply, and I can consider if a new sail will be under the Christmas tree.


Thoughts?

[psk125]

It sounds like your asym has died from old age. Your sailmakers haven't actually seen the sail and can't know the condition of the cloth to tell if it is actually worth making any repairs. Have fun with your needle & scissors. If it works, your zombie sail will have saved you $700-$2000. If it doesn't work maybe it can be made into a shade for the back yard. It's too light a cloth for raking leaves.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by psk125

It sounds like your asym has died from old age. Your sailmakers haven't actually seen the sail and can't know the condition of the cloth to tell if it is actually worth making any repairs. Have fun with your needle & scissors. If it works, your zombie sail will have saved you $700-$2000. If it doesn't work maybe it can be made into a shade for the back yard. It's too light a cloth for raking leaves.

Yeah, I think you are right. So my options are:


* Pay a sailmaker a grand or two to put lipstick on a pig -- probably making a sail that will actually set right until it fails again.

* Do a halfway decent job of putting lipstick on a pig myself -- possibly making a sail that will actually set right until it fails again.

* Put the rag in the trash and go without a spin for the rest of this year -- ensuring that the sail that I don't fly again this year is certain not to fail this year.



Which would you recommend?

[Jammer]

Well you could always look for a used asym that is better shape than what you have for less money than you would spend to fix it.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Well you could always look for a used asym that is better shape than what you have for less money than you would spend to fix it.

Actually, that's one of the first things I looked into. Bacon Sails has 4-5 that would mosty work, running 1/3-1/2 of the cost of a new one (so $$1500-$3000), but all with stains, large tears, sewn on numbers (yuk!), etc. Most include an ATN sock, which needlessly adds to the price (because I already have one). I've also been scouring Facebook, Craigslist, and eBay, but sail hunting on those sites is very frustrating (the useful listings put the size in the title, the rest you have to open and read -- some don't even say "asymmetrical" and you have to read the sizes to see that they aren't symmetrical!). But used (Bacon) is where we found this one 2 months after we bought the boat (and 8000 miles under the keel ago). Used is also why it's 1-2 feet too long....LOL


But I really think that new is in the cards for the winter. I was going to replace my Main (functional Hydranet, but probably 15000 miles on the boat (our 8000, plus a round trip to Europe and at least one round trip to the Caribbean). Best quote on that is Sailing Totem at $8K -- so if I put that off another year, that budget can buy a new asym -- and a top down furler too! So Band-Aiding this for the rest of the season is the idea.

[Sailor Sailor]

Look on eBay, there are some great deals. I just bought a second symmetrical, 1.5 oz. with a launch bag in nearly new condition for $300. Look on the sails subcategory of sailing hardware in eBay motors. You might also check Craigslist. I have bought 5 or 6 different used spinnakers for $200 - $300, some with some bleeding or taped repairs.

This year, someone on a Sabre forum gave me a beautiful nearly new asymmetrical for shipping costs, about $50.

I suspect there are a fair number of sailors who like the idea or image of flying a spinnaker, then discover that it may be more exciting or difficult than they anticipated. So they get rid of the sail.

BTW, earlier this month, I was able to use my spinnakers, both symmetrical and asymmetrical, for 2 days in a row sailing south on the Chesapeake Bay. Conditions were 5-10 knots from NW to NE. We were making 4-5 knots. It was fun and beautiful sailing. I only saw one other boat flying a spinnaker. I was passed by two AWBs, 40 footers, motoring about a knot faster in the same direction in the same conditions. I successfully resisted the urge to chastise them on the VHF radio.

[sailingharry]

Oh, we use it! LOL. Earlier this summer, we took 2 days to get to the Wye River (St Micheals area), about 20-30 miles a day, and then 2 days to get back. Flew it at least 2/3 of the day's trip on 3 of the 4 days (one day was mostly motor...). How often does the wind turn around for you like that?! We can get 8 kts boat speed out of 8 kts TWS if the wind is on the beam. It's really freaky to go that fast in that little wind in a cruising mono.

The challenge with used is finding the right one. Symmetrics are easy, because lots of racers ditch them after a year or two and cruisers don't' want them. Asym's are a lot harder as they are a bit newer concept and not as many going into the used market -- and a heavy demand for those that are on the market. Also, with a luff of 61', it's on the bigger end of what is out there (Bacon's won't even take a luff over 64'). Take a look on our classifieds here to see how scarce they are.

Attached is a pic on day 2 of that awesome 4 day sail. Beam reach in about 5-7 kts.

[sailingharry]

Just got a note from my guy at North on a new one. He's working pricing, but his comment on the top down furler was "don't do it." He says they are crazy expensive and a pain to use, the sock is easier and in my case cheaper (ie, free cause my ATN is in great shape). He did dismiss my one concern, which was how easily would it pack into a bag -- he says they are just as limp as a sock.


As far as "a pain to use," I have a permanently rigged sprit that is far enough out to give a clear line to the masthead (part of my design criteria when I built it), so I could possibly leave the tack furler permanently rigged -- assuming I can ease the tack line to get the furler to the pulpit to connect the tack and then pull it back out with knackering the control lines. But I have never seen a top down furler from closer than crossing tacks on the race course, so I really don't understand how they work.



So I'm soliciting comments on a furler. "Bargain" furlers that work nicely would be the sweet spot. (I did NOT say "cheap" because I do care about function -- I said "bargain" because there is an array of prices and an array of performance, and they don't always line up. My 3Di Cruising jibs are an example -- more performance and more expensive than cross cut dacron, but much longer lasting than even more expensive laminates).

[Ryban]

Well. A clean rip all the way across the sail is definitely a more challenging repair, but maybe not impossible.

We had our drifter rip nearly all the way across about 3' from the head. I ended up adding Spinnaker repair tape to align and hold the two sides together and then adding a large panel using ripstop nylon. Unclear how well it will hold up though.

In addition to the area that ripped, there was another section that was poorly patched, which is also visible in the photos. So I removed all the tape and stitching there as I think it was adding stress points.

[Jim Cate]

My take: In your place I would attempt the repair. Little out of pocket cost, you would learn a useful skill (or start to learn it anyhow) and if it worked, great, and if not, well it didn't cost you much.

And do remember that if the shape isn't what you want when you hoist it, further shape adjustment can be made. Zig-zag stitching and a seam ripper are the amateur sailmaker's friends!


FWIW many years ago I built a symmetrical kite for my Yankee 30... from scratch, using spinnaker cloth seconds purchased from Sailrite. It was my first go with a sewing machine, purchased nth hand from a little old lady. Kinda daunting at first, but I learned quickly and then won a lot of races with that sail... a very good experience for me!

You can do it too!

Jim