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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Tear in Jib

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falco_esq
1st Mate

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USA
60 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/14/2004 : 12:20:12

Ugh. I torn the jib yesterday whipping it around. It is right outside of the clew. Do I need special thread or anything to sew it up? It appears to be of a "canvasy" type of material. Any suggestions would be great!

Jason
INDIANAPOLIS

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 06/14/2004 : 13:08:20

I would go to a sailmaker to have it repaired. If you really want to do the work yourself, take a look at www.sailrite.com. They would have the thread needed to make the repairs.

dw

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5913 Posts

Response Posted - 06/14/2004 : 13:43:31

Can you be more specific about the tear. Is the fabric actually torn or have the stitches ripped out of a seam? Is only one layer torn, or is it torn in a place where there are multiple layers? Is there enough space all around the tear to allow you to sew a patch without having to sew through multiple layers of fabric?

If you don't have to sew through multiple layers of fabric, it's a fairly simple job to sew a patch over the torn area, using a standard home sewing machine and a zig-zag stitch. You can get the fabric for a patch from Sailrite.com. I would use about 3 oz. sailcloth, and put a patch on both sides of the tear. Then I would sew a couple of lines of stitches diagonally across the patch. Don't fold over the edges of the sailcloth. It is unnecessary, and makes the repair too thick.

Also, you should check your shrouds and swages carefully for sharp edges and meathooks. Usually a sail doesn't tear just because it is being whipped around a bit.

Edited by - Steve Milby on 06/14/2004 13:46:08

Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 06/14/2004 : 20:59:03

In addition to finding the thread you need on the sailrite site you can also find free video there on how to fix the tear.

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rclift
Navigator

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USA
152 Posts

Response Posted - 06/15/2004 : 09:20:55

I just got my jib back from the Banks loft here in Portland where I had them fix a ripped out leach line. It was a minor repair of the missing cleat and a foot or so of torn stiching. Not only did they fix that but also looked over the sail and found two or three other places to restitch and strengthen and even replace a missing tail tell. All for $48. If your sail isn't in the best of shape or not repairable it's a great place to gain a little knowledge of what to look for in a new sail.

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MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 06/16/2004 : 01:16:35

Last year my 110 ripped along the leach, that's the back of the sail right?. I got some sail repair tape from a friend on one of the very competitive boats. It held up in heavy winds and am still using it un fixed. When the boss says I can spend more money, I'll either buy a new main to go with the new 150 or get the old jib fixed.

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falco_esq
1st Mate

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USA
60 Posts

Response Posted - 06/22/2004 : 15:19:29

Ugh. Not sure what to do now. I believe my headsail is a 110 furling. The guys at West Marine told me I should take it to a sail repair guy instead of fixing it myself so I took it to North Sails in Chciago. THey told me it was going to be $60-$70 to fix, and that it would probably tear again because of the UV life. Then they told me it would be at least $1500.00 to replace. I have not seen one sail online that even approaches $1500.00. And to add insult to injury, they told me it was going to take two weeks to fix. Its not even that big of a tear! Suggestions?

Oh, by the way, for those of you who have given me advice this year, you will be happy to know that all the lights are working, the motor is great and there are no leaks!! (Just a torn sail now.)

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MattL
 Last year my 110 ripped along the leach, that's the back of the sail right?. I got some sail repair tape from a friend on one of the very competitive boats. It held up in heavy winds and am still using it un fixed. When the boss says I can spend more money, I'll either buy a new main to go with the new 150 or get the old jib fixed.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

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Sea Trac
Master Marine Consultant

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Vanuatu
1357 Posts

Response Posted - 06/22/2004 : 16:49:06

Jason,

If you don't have the money, or don't want to spend the money, for a new sail, then I would highly recommend visiting the [url="www.sailrite.com"]SailRite[/url] website. You can learn how to repair the sail from the online information brochures and then purchase the needed supplies.

I repaired a couple batten pocket tears in my mains'l, as well as adding tack and clew reinforcements and switching to a loose footed main. Very inexpensive and deeply gratifying to do the work yourself.

Best of luck!

Edited by - on

RichardG
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 06/22/2004 : 18:01:41

New off-the-shelf 110 furling jibs for C25's can be acquired in a couple days for roughly $700 from places like Sail Warehouse, Cruising Direct (a division of North), etc.. It sounds like North wants to sell you a new, high-end sail.

If, instead of "tearing", the stitching has simply come out as you described "right outside of the clew", you can simply re-sew the stitches by hand after pulling out the loose, old thread. West Marine and others sell sail thread. They also sell "sail needles" (although I get mine at Osh, Home Depot, etc.). You will have to carefully re-align all the layers of sail material in order to be able to push the needle exactly through the original holes in each layer of material. A leather-palmed work glove will help protect your skin from the butt-end of the needle. Further, you can duct-tape a quarter to the palm of the glove to provide further protection (like a home-made sailmaker's "palm"). The zigzag stitch requires you to stitch back-and-forth up one way past the bad stitches, then back-and-forth down the other way so that your stitches look exactly like the originals. The stitching came out of the foot of my jib one day last winter, for about 6 feet. I re-stitched it back up and it's stronger than the original stitching (I used thicker thread), but it took a bit of patience and persistance (plus a couple cd's worth of music) to finish the job.

It will be much more difficult to effect a good repair if the sail is actually "torn" between the clew grommet and the actual edge of the sail.

If the "tear" isn't right against the edge (and not just simple re-stitching problems as described above), you can use stick-on "sail repair tape" (usually 3" wide, sold in roles). Cut out the appropriate length, round the corners and put it on both sides of the tear and stitch it as Steve described. If the tear is real short, some folks don't bother with stitching up the sailtape, but that type of repair clearly isn't as strong.

Edited by - on

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