Minor main sail repair

[kirnehator]

i am looking for some suggestions on how to repair my main sail. i put a small 12 inch rip in the trailing edge of the sail as i was taking it down. not sure why this happened in the first place.

any ideas?

[14432]

You'll likely get more assistance if you provide a picture or link to such. Unless the sail is rather deteriated, you must have a sharp edge or something somewhere that cut it. Or, do you have a seam that has parted?

[speciald]

Sailrite (sailrite.com)has all the material you will need on their website. There is alot of stress on the leech of a head sail so the repair needs to be done correctly. Any sailloft can do the repair for you.

[kirnehator]

thanks for the input..... i did look after the repair. i stitched it back together and put a tape patch over top of it. seems to be holding up for now!

so i'm a new sailor and all, where would be a good place to check for information on learning how to sail? i recently bought this boat and i'm jumping right into it and learning it! i can now successfully sail with the mainsail and maneuver the vessel in any which way with no no worries of any sort!

i hav'nt used my front sail yet. i got 3 of them. not really sure on how to get it up there? or which one? does the front sail clip on to the halyard? and where do i attach the last corner?

i got 2 extra line that i can use on the mast. and i got 2 lines on winches that go to the very front of the boat, perhaps for the spinnaker that i also have.

any input would be appreciated and awesome

[SEMIJim]

Oh my.

Check local sail and yacht clubs. Many of them offer sailing instruction. If you want to go it alone, Sailing Fundimentals, by Gary Jobson, will get you up-to-speed on the rudiments of sailing very quickly. I also recommend The Complete Sailor, by Gary Seidman.

Btw:

Originally Posted by kirnehator

i hav'nt used my front sail yet.

That would be the foresail .

Originally Posted by kirnehator

i got 3 of them. not really sure on how to get it up there?

Depends on how your boat is rigged. Do you just have a wire/cable from the bow of your boat to the mast? What do the luffs (that would be the edge facing forward when the sail is raised) of your foresails look like? Do they have hanks (clips), or just a kind of raised edge?

Originally Posted by kirnehator

or which one?

If you've three, chances are they're three different sizes: A #1, #2, and #3. The #1, the largest, also known as a genoa, or genny, is used in lighter air. The smallest, the #3, also called a jib, is used in the heaviest air. The #2 is used, well, somewhere in the middle . You might also have a #1, #3 and a storm jib, or #4. That last is kind of self-explanatory.

Originally Posted by kirnehator

does the front sail clip on to the halyard?

Would have to know more about your rig, but, in general terms, the tack (bottom front corner) of a foresail is attached to/near the bottom of the forestay, the head (top corner) is attached to the jib halyard, and the jib sheets (two lines that run back to the cockpit) are tied to the clew (bottom back corner)--usually with bowline knots.

Originally Posted by kirnehator

and where do i attach the last corner?

Define "last?"

Originally Posted by kirnehator

i got 2 extra line that i can use on the mast.

Two? Did the boat come with a spinnaker? Or does it have a plastic "track" with two grooves in it on the forestay?

Originally Posted by kirnehator

and i got 2 lines on winches that go to the very front of the boat, perhaps for the spinnaker that i also have.

Ah. Ok: One of those "2 extra" lines is your jib halyard. The other is the spinnaker halyard. If you look carefully at the top of your mast, one of the two halyards should come over its sheave (that's a "pulley" in lubber terms) a bit in front of the mast. That would be the spinnaker halyard. The two lines that run to the front of the boat are used to control the foresail, and they may also be used to control your spinnaker (also called a "spin" or "kite"), depending on the type of kite and how your boat is rigged. On our boat, for example, where we have symetrical spins, there's a separate set of (very long) lines used for the kites.

Good luck.

Jim

[sailingdog]

Buy yourself a copy of Dave Seidman's The COmplete Sailor, about $16 a the local bookstore.

Originally Posted by kirnehator

thanks for the input..... i did look after the repair. i stitched it back together and put a tape patch over top of it. seems to be holding up for now!

so i'm a new sailor and all, where would be a good place to check for information on learning how to sail? i recently bought this boat and i'm jumping right into it and learning it! i can now successfully sail with the mainsail and maneuver the vessel in any which way with no no worries of any sort!

i hav'nt used my front sail yet. i got 3 of them. not really sure on how to get it up there? or which one? does the front sail clip on to the halyard? and where do i attach the last corner?

i got 2 extra line that i can use on the mast. and i got 2 lines on winches that go to the very front of the boat, perhaps for the spinnaker that i also have.

any input would be appreciated and awesome

[tager]

Don't waste your money. There is plenty of sailing literature available for free. Libraries and the internet come to mind.