Learn to Sail Like a Pro - Seven Ways to Add New Life to Your Costly Sailboat Sails

It can be a harrowing experience to watch a mainsail rip across a seam from luff to leech while sailing down a narrow channel in a 25 knot breeze. That happened to me a few years back, and it proved to be a real "wake-up" call. Here are some little-known sailing tips, guaranteed to save you big money in costly mainsail and Genoa repair and replacements costs!

These days, the mainsail often gets left on the boat, lashed to the boom, and covered with a sail cover. The Genoa or jib stay rolled up like a window shade.

This may be convenient, but there's no way you can inspect a sailboat sail for damage, the stitching for wear, or the sailing hardware for integrity--unless you remove them from the boat.

At least once every sailing season, pull the mainsail and headsail off your boat and inspect them from head to toe (or foot--that is!).Follow these easy steps:

Inspect Stitching From Head to Foot

Look over every inch of zigzag and straight sewing stitches for wear or chafe. Concentrate along sail edges, like the luff and leech, where sail loads are greatest..

* Mainsails:
Mark worn areas with a pencil. Check across each sail seam for broken stitching. Look next to each slide or slug on the luff and foot. Sailing hardware causes extra tension on the sailcloth and can lead to worn, weakened fabric.

* Headsails:
Look for chafed areas along the foot. With roller furling headsails, inspect all along the luff. With snap-on headsails, look around the area of each piston-hank for wearing. Circle worn areas with a pencil and repair to increase sail life.

Wash Salt and Dirt from Your Sails

Salt and dirt grind on sail seams like a mini nail-file on a fingernail. Remove these particles and you will extend sail life. Bathe your sails once a season in a mild solution of water and mild, non-bleach soap. This keeps stitching strong and flexible.

Keep Sails Dry as a Bone!

Make sure you dry sails before you cover or bag them. Otherwise, mildew will grow in wet areas. If your sails have mildew spots, brush the spore with a medium stiff brush to loosen the spore. Dacron sails can be soaked in a 1% solution of Clorox and water for 3 hours. Never use bleach on nylon spinnaker sails; it could eat through the sail cloth!

Protect Resin Coated Sails

Remove your sails and fold them at the end of the sailing season. This protects the surface coating. Most cruising boat sails use some resin on the surface to help the sail keep her shape. But this coating breaks down without care.

* Cruising mainsails:
Dry the sail; then flake it over the sailboat boom. Cover with a sail cover.

* Cruising Headsails:
Dry and fold the sail accordion-style. Then, bag the sail on deck or stow below.

* Racing sails

Mylar or high-tech sailcloth should not be folded because this can lead to permanent "memory creases". Instead, stow these sails flat or roll them like a cigar from head to foot.

Make Batten Wear Your #1 Attack Point

Battens wear like the dickens in their pockets as the mainsail vibrates and flogs in a breeze, or when hoisting or lowering. Inspect each batten pocket all around the perimeter for worn stitches. Test the elastic in the pocket bottom. Just like the elastic in underwear, it tends to blow out after time. And this will cause accelerated wear.

Have your sailmaker reinforce each pocket with an additional row of stitching. Replace elastic in the pocket. If you use full length battens, inspect batten hardware at the luff. Before bagging a mainsail, be sure to remove battens to prevent punctures.

Check Sail Attachment Hardware

Sail hardware causes a "hard spot" on the sailcloth. This can lead to lots of tension and stress at that point on the sail. Catch and replace broken, chipped or worn hardware because this can cause unexpected failure that results in a rip across the sail

* Mainsails:
Check headboard, tack and clew rings. Then check luff slugs and slides for cracks, missing shackles or deformity. Don't hoist the mainsail until you have replaced damaged hardware.

* Roller Furling headsails:
Inspect head and tack thimbles, and clew rings for wear or chafe. Remove the sail from the headstay extrusion to check for luff chafe. Repair worn areas right away to prevent further damage.

* Hank-on headsails:
Look for chafe in the corners and then inspect piston snaps and grommets. Lubricate corroded piston snaps with a drop of light machine oil. Work the piston in and out to free it of corrosion.

Replace Sacrificial Furling Sail Covers

The extra cloth that your sailmaker sews along the leech of a furling headsail protects the rolled sail against the ravages of UV sunlight. But, like any sailcloth, it deteriorates, stitching wears, and the cloth becomes weak and porous.

When you see these signs on your furling sail cover, have your sailmaker remove the old cover and install a fresh one. This will protect your costly headsail from damage and extend it's life by many years.

Use these seven super sailing tips to learn to sail like a pro and keep your sailboat sails in tip top shape. You will save lots of money in repair and replacement costs and enjoy sailing with the same suit of sails for many years to come.



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