on board diy sail repairs

certain sail repairs can be undertaken on board with some basic tools and repair tape.

you will need : sailmakers palm to work the needle through the fabric,

a piece of soft marine plywood (painted to prevent splinters) to pin damaged area of sail to , pushpins and an awl or spike tool.

sail repair tape ,the sailmakers insignia fabric is better than the light tape sold in chandlers.  duck tape can be used but is very difficult to remove later.

double sided glue tape ,available from sailmaker. 12 mm wide is most handy.

dacron thread again from sailmaker, chandlers tend to sell whipping twine which will tend to cut sail fabric and does not bed in,

-a sail repair kit from Nelsons time (1805) ,the spoon contains wax to apply to the thread, modern threads are prewaxed otherwise not much change, the palm in those days was only made in right handed form ,left handed people had the affliction cured, modern palms are left or right handed .

tear repair

as you can see in the photo the ragged damage has to be straightened out and the area to be repaired pinned flat with pushpins on to the plywood board. pin only through seams to prevent tears, the seams being tensioned straight to flatten the area without creases.

cut a piece of sticky back dacron insignia cloth or repair tape the same size as the tear plus 3 cm all round , the weave direction should match that of the panel, the area has to be clean and dry for the adhesive coating to work (use alcohol).

peel of the backing paper from the insignia fabric and place on the repair smooth out any wrinkles, use a hairdryer to improve the bond as the adhesive is heat sensitive, repeat the operation on the other side for extra strength.

slide eyelet repair

a sail slide that has pulled out or broken should be replaced as soon as possible as adjacent slides can brake as they come under increasing load.

this repair is easier than it looks as all you are doing is refitting the slide next to the damaged eyelet using hand sewn webbing ,heat seal the end of the webbing with a heated knife( galley stove), and sew with 2 rows of stitching.

the distance or offset of the slide from the luff is important so copy from an unbroken slide.