[montenido]

Hi all, I received about 5-6 frantic calls yesterday from my marina telling me that my furled headsail had come loose in the 35-50 MPH winds that were blowing. I was stuck at work for 24 hours so I tried to talk them through dropping the sail (unsuccessfully). After the fifth or sixth call I began to make arrangements to get relieved and go to the boat myself. When I got there last night the wind was still howling and the marina staff had winched the sheets tight back to the cockpit on both sides. So the sail was still flapping wildly and coming apart.

I was able to drop the sail and ball it up, so I threw it into my car and left. This morning I laid it out and surveyed the damage. From what I can tell all the rips are along seams and not in the fabric itself. So I went from pricing new sails to just needing to find a reputable sail shop in the Los Angeles area. Wow, lucky me!

So, anybody out there have a good sail loft that they use in the Marina Del Rey or Channel Islands/Ventura area?

Thanks in advance.

Bill

 

[blt2ski]

You might try the San Diego Ullman loft, and see what Chuck can do there. I've bought some sails from him thru the Puget sound Ullman sub dealer network.

Also keep in mind, depending upon the damage, a new sail could be the better route yet still. This depends upon the how much to fix, vs how old your current sails are etc.

Marty

 

[svHyLyte]

North Sails 3481 W. 5th Street, #100, Oxnard, CA 93030 USA 805-984-8100 Ullman Sails 3639 E. Harbor Blvd. #111 Ventura CA 93001 (805) 644-9579 or (800) 248-2892 Next time put a bolt through the locking hole in your furler drum when you leave the boat.

 

[montenido]

Thanks, I spoke with someone at North Sails and I am going to give them a try. I don't think I have a locking hole in my drum. It's a pretty old set up.

Thanks again, Bill

 

[jarcher]

I have not tried them yet, but many speak well of this place:

Sail Care for sail cleaning, sail repair, new sails, roller furlings and sailing equipment

You can ship them the sail.

 

[TxLnghrn]

Second vote for Sail Care, They took a 22 year old sail and made it look brand new. $48/hr for repair work, should be well worth the cost of shipping to you.
Michael

 

[alecs123]

I've sent twice (different sails) to SailCare. The first time I had no other option since I'm in Mexico and there aren't reputable lofts around here, the sail came like new and I mean like new, really.
the second time I sent my main to have the batten pockets redone and the result was the same.
Not cheap thouhg, I will send again any sail that needs repairs/cleaning.

 

[sailingdog]

Bill—

I highly recommend putting a sailtie around your roller furled headsail if you're going to be away from the boat for any significant period of time...or get a headsail sock. Either of these will prevent the sail from unfurling and flogging itself to pieces. The sock has the added advantage of protecting the sail from UV damage.

 

[nk235]

This may be a stupid question and in no way am I directing it at the OP as I feel your pain on the sail work (going through the same thing with my furler and rigging now myself)

But how exactly does the sail unfurl itself in high winds? When I roll up my sail I make sure to roll it up so that it has about 3-4 wraps around it with the sheets acting like a sail tie I guess. Also before I coil up the sheets in the cockpit I make sure they are sheeted off fairly tight to a cleat so there is no way they are going to ease up. Also I make sure the furling line is well secured to its own cleat the everything is rolled up tight and cleated off so it can't unwind.

I am just curious if this is what everyone else does/what you are suppossed to do and how the sail could come loose from that?

Thanks

 

[sailingdog]

I do the same thing... but you have to remember to put a few extra turns on the furling drum so you can do this. Also, I highly recommend leaving a few wraps on the drum, since some of the drums can split if the loads get too high on it and there aren't at least a couple warps of the furling line on it.

The reason I put the sail ties on the sail is if the furling line breaks or comes loose... it prevents the sail from unfurling. It's a bit overkill for normal weather, but if I'm going to be leaving the boat for more than a few days or if heavy weather is expected, I'll do it. The sail tie will also go around the genoa sheets that are wrapped around the sail, so they can't come undone.

But how exactly does the sail unfurl itself in high winds? When I roll up my sail I make sure to roll it up so that it has about 3-4 wraps around it with the sheets acting like a sail tie I guess. Also before I coil up the sheets in the cockpit I make sure they are sheeted off fairly tight to a cleat so there is no way they are going to ease up. Also I make sure the furling line is well secured to its own cleat the everything is rolled up tight and cleated off so it can't unwind.

I am just curious if this is what everyone else does/what you are suppossed to do and how the sail could come loose from that?

Thanks

 

[nk235]

I do the same thing... but you have to remember to put a few extra turns on the furling drum so you can do this. Also, I highly recommend leaving a few wraps on the drum, since some of the drums can split if the loads get too high on it and there aren't at least a couple warps of the furling line on it.

The reason I put the sail ties on the sail is if the furling line breaks or comes loose... it prevents the sail from unfurling. It's a bit overkill for normal weather, but if I'm going to be leaving the boat for more than a few days or if heavy weather is expected, I'll do it. The sail tie will also go around the genoa sheets that are wrapped around the sail, so they can't come undone.

Yeah I make sure there is extra line on the furling drum. Ok so the sail ties are in case the lines break....make sense and I like the extra peace of mind.

 

[sailingdog]

Paranoia is never a bad thing when dealing with New Englad weather...

Yeah I make sure there is extra line on the furling drum. Ok so the sail ties are in case the lines break....make sense and I like the extra peace of mind.

 

[svHyLyte]

In high winds, the loads imparted to the sheets can be enough to cause a drum to unfurl if the furling line lets go or chafes through. Particularly so if they flog about. Most drums have one or more holes at the base that allow one to drop a locking pin or bolt through (tie a strip of red spinnaker cloth to the top of the bolt to remind oneself it is in place). Short of that, pulling the sheets forward and tiying them to the bottom of the sail with a couple of wraps of a sail tie will keep things tidy.

FWIW...

PS: We have used Sailcare but for simply sewing up a couple of seams and repairing a UV cover, the local North loft is sufficient and a heck of a lot faster!

 

[montenido]

Hi all, thanks for the additional information. To answer one question, I don't think that I had secured my headsail sheets back to the cabin. So the furling line was secured, but not the sheets. This must have allowed the sail to unwind a bit and flog itself to death. SD, good suggestion about the sail tie. I did actually have a bungee around the furled sail, but it was not up to the task. I will continue to wrap the sail tightly and secure the lines to the cockpit. That is more than I was doing before

I get my sail back this week sometime, I can't wait. There is quite a difference between the 110% that I am using now and the 150% that is being repaired. On the plus side, I have sailed four times in 1 1/2 weeks.

Thanks again for the great info.

Bill

 

[sailingdog]

The headsail sheets should make at least two wraps around the headsail when it is properly furled. This will greatly reduce the chances of it flogging, but the sheets also have to be cleated off properly-and using a self-tailing winch is not cleating them off properly, since the wind could possibly blow the line out of the self-tailer.

Hi all, thanks for the additional information. To answer one question, I don't think that I had secured my headsail sheets back to the cabin. So the furling line was secured, but not the sheets. This must have allowed the sail to unwind a bit and flog itself to death. SD, good suggestion about the sail tie. I did actually have a bungee around the furled sail, but it was not up to the task. I will continue to wrap the sail tightly and secure the lines to the cockpit. That is more than I was doing before

I get my sail back this week sometime, I can't wait. There is quite a difference between the 110% that I am using now and the 150% that is being repaired. On the plus side, I have sailed four times in 1 1/2 weeks.

Thanks again for the great info.

Bill