Does anybody have experience with "patching" sails? Is this a possible DIY project or are all sail repairs best done by a pro? I have 2 tears in my main after a meeting with a pine tree this weekend (might post video later). One is about the lenght of my palm the other the length of my arm. Any suggestions?

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Gray Amick
Chapin, SC
'77 NACRA 5.2
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defiantly possible to do yourself. I have had a few dozen repairs over the years. Mostly fixed by friends of mine who have sewing skills.

A very strong sewing machine (professional grade) is best

I had a gf who was a seamstress and she did a bolt rope repair for one of my sails that was 50x better than any repair i had done at a sail shop.

What material are you talking? (dacron, mylar, pentex, etc)

Not sure of the material. It's the original sail from my '77 Nacra.

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Gray Amick
Chapin, SC
'77 NACRA 5.2
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Dacron probably 5oz

you need some material, proper thread, needle(for machine or hand), 1/4" basting tape(really helps,double sided sticky tape)...
really nice if you have a machine, needs to do big zigzag pattern, or stitch by hand(takes a while on big repairs). dacron of cours, sailrite carries all these things. gets you back on the water faster and way cheaper!

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Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook!
bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Hey Gray, I'm down the road from you and have had repairs done a couple of ways. One way was by Joe Waters of Waters Sails in Lexington. He actually fixed my Viper Jib for free once (VERY small repair). Of course with a sail the age of yours he will probably recommend a new sail, he is a sail maker. The other Way was at a local business that makes covers/tarps. I bought some Dacron and had the guy there use it for the repair. I was specific and showed him EXACTLY what I wanted him to do. It turned out pretty good and he only charged me like $30.

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Mac
Midlands South Carolina
AHPC Viper USA 366
A Cat USA 366
Super Cat 17
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If you just want a quick fix to get back on the water then stick a piece of sail tape on both sides
and go have fun. If you have a machine strong enough then sew it zig zag with v69 thread and it will be good to go. I have done this quite a bit.



Edited by pknapp66 on Aug 07, 2012 - 05:38 PM.

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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Mac,
I did end up taking it to Joe (he is a very nice guy). I remembered he put a zipper in my jib a while back. He also said he use to sail a Nacra and it had the exact same main. I felt inclined to have a pro do it after I looked at it again. The long tear is along a batten pocket. He is going to rebuild that pocket as part of the repair. I might have tackled this as a DIY project if it weren't for the location of that rip.

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Gray Amick
Chapin, SC
'77 NACRA 5.2
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