Sail Repair

Howdy, looking for advice. On Monofilm people have used packing tape. Can you use a glue gun if its just a little hole?

If the tear is near a batten (ie. Monofilm panell sewed into dacron batten slot) what is the best tape to put down? I have to join monofilm to Dacron I believe. Would a Dacron tape be the best? Mylar?

Are there some really bombproof tapes out there that 'weld' to the sail?

Consider insignia tape (as used for sail numbers) as it has adhesive that is very agressive and will adhere to monofilm and to fabric, in fact difficult to remove from fabric.

I respectfully disagree with HBREID on the use of insignia cloth for monofilm repairs. Insignia is a woven material that keeps itself stuck pretty well in certain circumstances. For very small holes (think bullet hole) the stuff will work in a low tension area like the upper leach. But most tears in film cross the lines of stress and tension within the sail. You need packing tape that has very minimal stretch or else the sail will continue to self destruct over time. Insignia cloth stretches a lot on the bias (diagonally) compared to film and will distort and pull away from the film to which it is attached unless it is aligned perfectly.

Wall-Mart sells great packing tape for patching certain tears. It's super cheap and totally bomb proof. However, your 'hole' sounds like it's on or near an area of high tension if its close to one of the larger battens in the middle of the sail body. Not only will this location have a lot of seam shaping under the battens but endures stress from batten tension when under powered. In any event, if you run up against a batten pocket you don't really gain much 'tear support' from climbing the layers of reinforcement around the batten pocket. You could try lifting the edge of dacron batten sleeve just above or below the hole and sliding the edge of the tape under that without removing any stitching. Then, extend the tape well beyond the hole on either side. Take another length of tape and cut it so the far edge is rounded. This piece will overlap on top of the first piece about 1cm and drop below it in an arc. This will encourage the stress running through the sail to go around the hole rather than through it. It's far from perfect but anything helps if the hole is in a line of stress.

Just don't use glue (especially hot). Lots of glues contain evaporating solvents as a thinner. While these solvents keep the glue flowing, they can 'liquefy' the existing glue that holds the seams in place. Plus, if the glue hardens rather than remaining flexible (something pretty common with 'gap' filling glue) you suddenly create an sharp edge in contact with your sail; not a good thing. Contact cement might work if you use two pieces of film to overlap the hole on either side of the sail, but this is exactly why tape exists.

My comment regarding insignia tape was in response to a tear that was adjacent to fabric, and the question implied a desire for something that would adhere to fabric.

The insignia tape adheres agressively to monofilm and used to be used exclusively for sail numbers both on fabric and later on monofilm.

I agree that quality packing tape is the solution for tears in monofilm, and agree that you should select packing tape that does not have stretch.

Dan, Another Tape that works well is Greenhouse Repair Tape available at any Greenhouse or Nursery Supply store. It's twice as wide at 4' and more that twice as thick at 7 mil vs. 3 mil and the tape and adhesive both have a 24/7 UV design life of 5 years. Sticks nicely to damp surfaces as well. It's spendy but a partial roll begged from the guys in the back of your wife's favorite bedding plant or local lawn and garden center is another alternative.

you've been around longer than my fern but I do offer my congrats on creating a nexus between windsurfing and garden supplies. I will search for it if only for the 4' width. If you know a brand name that would be great.

BTW, you live in WI or MI right?

works great. My comment was based on a miserable repair similar to the one described (probably worse in degree) where the insignia cloth deformed along the stress line and pulled away from the film. The diagonal attachment points that remained caused the nearby seam to pull, making a bad tear into a catastrophe requiring a new panel. The problem I had was going from one panel over the top the batten pocket and onto the next panel. The insignia cloth pulled tight when on leeward and lifted off the area on either side of the batten 'lump.' I suppose a crappy repair job shouldn't be confused with inappropriate materials.

I have used the stuff for numbers for years and as you say it holds like it has claws when pasted flat. I just think it's suspect when applied under tension and then subject to bending around a changing complex curve. That said, I'm not sure I know of any rigid film that's any better.

Maybe thin PVC film rather than polyester?

The tape idea comes from my most excellent wife, Park Horticulturist, Master Gardener and Super Mother to our four children.

It's industrial stuff, don't know a brand name off hand, the roll we have is 6 or 7 years old and any labeling is gone.

Nope we currently live in North Dakota, that place on I94 you drive through on the way to and from the Gorge. North Dakota the place that you hurry through cause there's nothing here but the horizon and the wind. The wind that is buffeting your car is either pumping you up in anticipation of a fix to be had on the Columbia or easing your trip home. When we see you we wave or give you a shaka.

Ray

Or the finger if they don't wave back.

I remember a guy telling me stories about hot summer days and 30knots in Minot. I don't know if he found a place to sail there, or had to travel around. How many sailors are there in ND? Just you and your family?

Thanks everyone on the recent sail repair advice. I've also heard of some insulating tape called 'tack mack' that can stick to both monofilm and polyester......I'll let you know if I find any. Otherwise will just try with packing tape under the polyester (on monofilm only) and then lap the joint onto the polyester....here's

Not me.

The wind is great and there's 300 miles of open access shore line on lake Sakakawea within 1.5 hr. of Minot, but it's the same old windsurfing story. There are maybe 25 old school windsurfers in a a 125 mile radius of and 2 or 3 new school, wide board sailors. The remnants of what windsurfing there was here, are fragmented, so it's hard to know. For the most part diehard old geezers, Dad's and only one kid in that bunch that got hooked.

Happily the local YMCA Youth camp which has had a sailing/windsurfing program for 15 years, needs new equipment and may adopt wide boards and Roger's new school approach to learning. Triangle Y Camp has introduced 200 kids per summer on old long narrow school boards for fifteen years and to my knowledge not one of those kids ever windsurfed after camp. Don't know if it was the equipment, instruction or the camp experience itself that resulted in such poor results, at least we can change the equipment and instruction sides of the equation and see if we get a better outcome.