Sail repair: Sailrite or non sponsored contain
At the early stages of the project, when the hull was about to be launched and the crew was busy equipping the boat, we bought a “Sailrite”. A quick calculation guessed that the machine would be paid off in just one of the dozens of canvas jobs and repairs we would need to do in the future. This without even thinking about the possibility of repairing your own sails while you are at sea.
Last week an ugly hole showed off in our largest foresail. The sun raised and revealed we brought the sail too much in during the dark hours. The leach got pressed into the spreader end probably when the wind calmed down, and we eased the sail too late. So, there we were, in the middle of the doldrums with our largest jib broken. Human errors a quite humiliating. Out of a sudden you see where you failed, it’s not a great feeling.
But there was a very positive side. Vinson’s crew is crazy about sewing. José is the master, and he has two great followers (Tito and Arturo) during this sail-training trip down south. They can spend hours at the sewing machine, they make covers, awnings, bags… everything! It’s their main free time activity. Furthermore, our new crew member Manue spent time working in a French sail-making loft. So, they couldn’t be happier than dropping the big sail, carrying their sacred virgin “Sailrite” forward and sew some Dacron on both sides of the broken canvas. All hands on deck.
Nowadays most sail repairs at sea are carried out with non-sewing techniques. The times when Skip Novak’s Withbread crews carried sewing machines and a dedicated sailmaker on board have given way to taffeta patches stuck with Sikaflex or flexible epoxy resins. It is very common to see this composite resin stains all over the ocean sailors’ foul weather gear at the end of a race.
But we really like the traditional thread and needle jobs. If you own a boat and you like the DIY jobs, go and get this machine. They are very difficult to find second-hand, as once you have it no one wants to get rid of it. It will make you save lots of bucks. US made. Very strong and portable, you’ll be able to repair on the go and continue sailing even when the closest sailmaker is a few thousand miles away. They also have hundreds of tutorials in their channel to teach you to do yourself anything you can imagine. Here is when the non-sponsored warning comes up.
Kenneth Perdigón.
Skipper
