Tag: sail

Sails5 Comments

The 6 Worst Things You Can Do To Your Sails

$tingy Sailor

Crisp, clean sails not only look better than dirty, worn out sails, they also work better and let your sailboat heel less. New sails are expensive so it’s smart to take care of the ones you have so that they will last longer before you need to replace them. Here are some simple things that you can avoid doing and that will help your sails to last longer. I’ll also mention a few things that you should make into habits that can prolong the life of your sails.

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Sails14 Comments

How to Clean Sails at Home

$tingy Sailor

Just like a white shirt is a magnet for spaghetti stains, your sails are magnets for stains, dirt, and mildew. Unlike a white shirt, you shouldn’t bleach or machine wash your sails, it will ruin them. That means don’t clean them in a chlorinated pool, either.

For hundreds of dollars, you can send your sails to a professional cleaning service like SailCare.com. They’ll come back looking great but if they also need ANY repairs (loose stitches, etc.), you’ll be put on the spot to have them repaired and your cost can quickly mount. And if your sails are old, they’ll still be old when they come back. Their cleaning process includes re-impregnating the fabric with resins but that just stabilizes the current shape of the sails for a while, it doesn’t restore them to a like-new shape. But if you’re going to have your sails repaired anyway, this can be a good option to clean them at the same time.

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$tingy’s 12-Point Winterization Checklist

$tingy Sailor

When fall arrives, many owners haul out their sailboats to store them for the winter. Months of nothing but exposure to the elements gives rust, mildew, marine fouling, and chafing time to claim new territory in the battle for ownership of your sailboat. But you can keep the enemies at bay by doing these simple maintenance tasks every year when you dry dock your sailboat. They’ll help you to keep it top shape and ready to go when the first bright days of spring arrive.

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Sails2 Comments

How to Reproduce a Class Insignia on a Sail

$tingy Sailor

This project is a companion to my previous project, How to Add Numbers to a Sail. If you need to add or replace your sail numbers, you might also need to add or replace the class insignia too. Or maybe you want to add a company logo to your sail or a graphic that illustrates the sailboat’s name. Whatever shape you want to add to your sail, the basic process is the same. In this post, I’ll describe how to make the classic Catalina 22 mainsail class insignia for half the cost of retail.  Continue reading “How to Reproduce a Class Insignia on a Sail”

Product reviews1 Comment

Product Review: DrSails Repair Adhesive

$tingy Sailor

This is a guest post written by Andrew Evans who is a highly-experienced, single-handed, offshore racer who hails from Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. He is also the author of Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics for Singlehanded Sailing.  Since Andy shared with us how he likes to abuse his spinnaker in Lessons on Spinnaker Repair,  he’s also a good tester for this interesting new product.
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Sails, Sewing2 Comments

How to Flatten the Luff of that Baggy Old Sail

$tingy Sailor

Do you have one or more old sails that, after you hoist them fully, have scallops and wrinkles along the luff like in the picture above? Or do you have to winch them flat or overtighten your backstay? Instead of a flat, smooth leading edge, those wrinkles disrupt airflow and rob your sail’s performance. If the sail has a polyester bolt rope in the luff and not wire rope, you can fix that yourself for almost no cost other than about an hour of your time. And you won’t have to take the sail to a sail loft, wait days or weeks to get it fixed, and drop a Benjamin or more out of your wallet.

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Improve Sail Shape and Performance with a Leech Line

$tingy Sailor

Before I dive in to the main topic of this post, I want to wish all you stingy sailors out there a Happy Thanksgiving Day. Even if you don’t live in the US or don’t normally celebrate this holiday, I hope you can take some time today to express your gratitude for the blessings in your life with those around you that you love. Whether it’s good health, a loving family, a job that pays the bills, or just fond memories, we can all find something to be thankful for.

Let’s face it, if you’re reading this blog and you either already own a sailboat or are just thinking about getting one, you’re more prosperous than most of the people on our planet. I urge you to look for ways to share your prosperity with those who are less fortunate. On to the project!

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