On a leisurely harbor sail I looked up and saw sunlight through the sail…uh oh…thats not good….Now the question…repair it or replace it. When I had the leach line repaired North Sails said I had a few more seasons left in the sail. Its my jib and its on a furled so its exposed to the elements more than my main…They say you gotta pay to play…but its not fun…lol.
That’ s not too bad, just repair it!
Nice site, I just stumbled across it from Sailing Anarchy’s front page.
Anyways, you mentioned that your jib is exposed to the elements which do quite a bit of damage to sails. You may want to consider a “snorkel” cover (see http://www.saillavieusa.com/graphics/boomcover.gif) for the roller furling jib. I know of smaller boats (e.g. Buccaneer 18) using snorkels to cover and protect the rolled jib on the furler without having to lower it and I suspect that something similar is available for larger boats. It’s basically a cover which slips over the jib, usually being raised up the jib on a separate halyard (e.g. spin halyard), protecting the sails from the elements and it should prolong the life of the jib.
Thx! I’ll look into it!
It seems that it may also be called a “sock” or “sleeve”. Here’s what I’m talking about: http://www.leesailcovers.com/Jib_Sock.php
I can’t say I’ve ever bought anything from them, but I found the video at the end helpful (although you need to skip ahead until about 1:05 to see the cover being used).
Thanks! I think this sail is pretty much gone…new ones have a build in UV cover at the foot and leach. So I may not need that, although since I have a mainsail cover it may be a good thing to get just to keep the jib nice and fresh.
Fair point. I just thought that you may be interested in a snorkel/sock/sleeve because it could be used with a number of different sails, but sails with built-in covers are super convenient.
Anyways, good luck.
You are right! I may do one even regardless! It can’t hurt right?