Bought an almost never used Bossett Tornado main for $30. The only defect is a 3cm long cut in the leech 3 battens up. How would you repair it? No recommendations of repair shops needed. I have a capable sewing machine, just some advice needed.
Edited by revintage on Nov 06, 2017 - 03:10 PM.
100% yes. Fix it!! Don't even think about sailing it like that. The leech is a very highly stressed part of the sail and the cut would provide the perfect stress concentration to zip that tear all the way to the luff.
I would focus on reducing the stress at the end of the cut as the first priority. Beyond that - I am not a sewing expert...
Edited by rehmbo on Nov 06, 2017 - 09:29 PM.
My idea is to add a piece of Dacron cloth inside the leech-fold and add a 3-4" round piece of insignia around the leech. Then add a few rows of zigzag stitches along the leech on top of the insignia and added dacron. Overkill?
Edited by revintage on Nov 07, 2017 - 05:00 AM.
FWIW.....Had a similar tear in the luff of an H16 main once, and was surprised when the sailmaker fixed it by sewing on some nylon webbing. Wasn't exactly pretty, but was way stronger than a sail cloth repair and never budged. Sold the sail years ago, and it's still in use. Good luck with your repair!
Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
A piece of 1” wide nylon webbing on either side of the sail running up the leech to sandwich the existing material would certainly be strong, but probably not too pretty.
I would probably use two pieces of dacron sail cloth (one about 6” long and the second about 8” long wrapped around the leech like a taco and then held in place using zig zag stitches and a couple bar tacks top and bottom.
sm
Steve M.
A sailmaker repaired an Invitation sail for me, with the exact damage you show. The did as Dogboy said above. Only difference, they undid the ribbon that folds over the leech, and added the reinforcing material. The ribbon was then put back in place & stitched.
Unless you looked closely at the sail, you would never know it was repaired.
E C Hilliard
Nacra 5.7
Bombardier Invitation