I took my old jib to a shop for a new zipper and he said $125 and i went out the door. I can sew but i need a zipper. Anybody know where i can pick one up? I looked at sailrite.com but they dont say how wide their zipper is. I am also in the market for a used jib. preferebly white. under $200US.

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FYC, Nacra 5.2 "Chris's Flyer" & Nacra Playcat & Farrier Tramp
Previously owned: Trac 14, H14, H16, H18, N5.0, G-cat 5.0
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That has been the average price for replacing a zipper for a long time. Maybe you can buy a zipper from a sail maker or canvas shop, but you will need a heavy duty sewing machine to do the work. You will break a lot of needles if you are using a home type sewing machine.

yes that price seems a lot, but correct. i always under-estimated the amount of work needed to work on sails till i started to help my friend with my repairs (blown leach, ripped batten pockets, ripped sails, new zippers).

i.e. To fix a tear in a sail under a batten pocket:
remove batten pocket - (remove all threads) 1 hour
create and sew on patch - 1 hour
replace batten pocket - 1 hour

so materials, equipment + labor = $$$

that being said... the hardest part about the zip job is (besides the time needed to remove the old) is attaching the start and stop ends on the zipper... *custom equip needed

Sooooooo $125 seems about correct to me...

Call sailrite and ask them the sizes they have. other sources.. any marine canvas shop, sail maker. (dont use one not made to handle boating)


I have a friend who recently got a brand new h18 jib on ebay for under $250



edited by: andrewscott, Sep 01, 2009 - 10:07 AM

I can ship a new white H-18 jib for $255 plus $25 shipping. And $125 for new zipper is way too high. Pete 909-800-5237

I forgot to mention.. if you want. you can eliminate the zipper on the h18 and leave the jib attached all the time (to the forestay.

I never had a working zipper on my original jib. i would just roll the halyard up with the jib, throw it in a bag and be done... saved time rigging too.

If you are worried about the jib in a bag on your boat, you can remove the entire jib/halyard simply by unduing the shackle up top (or however it attaches to the swivel)

That will work if you trailer your boat every time you sail, but if you have mast up storage, this will not help.

HULLFLYER

That will work if you trailer your boat every time you sail, but if you have mast up storage, this will not help.

haha.. agreed. removal of forestay while mast is up is not recommended