[Rhodes22-list] Rip in main

[Mark Kaynor]

All,

Raven's IMF main has been having furling problems lately. To the best of my knowledge, we're still using the original 1988 Lee main. Lately, the foot of the sail just before the sunbrella at the clew has been doubling over and binding against the top of the boom slide and the mast slot on the way in. When we visited Bob and Kathy Quinn in Stuart we noticed that the clew of their main was several inches higher than the boom slide, so we assume that ours is stretched out of shape. Unless we set the boom at just the right angle, ours rubs against the boom slide and bunches up on the way in.

We noticed a small hole last week that looked like wear and put some sail tape over it so it wouldn't get caught in the mast slot on the way in. Yesterday afternoon we unfurled and as I tightened the outhaul, the sail tore just above the seam at the foot - two photos are attached to this email.

We pretty much spent our new sail budget on the new 135% genoa and the UPS this spring, and we're trying to decide whether to have the sail repaired (and recut) or not. The dacron seems to be in pretty good shape (Gary, the PO, had the sails cleaned shortly before we bought the boat two years ago) but we just don't have enough experience to know for sure. We did need to have the tab at the tack that screws to the IMF furler replaced this spring. 

So my questions are: How does one know if a sail is worth repairing or not? Is there a test we can perform on the Dacron to determine how much life it's got left in it? And why did this happen just three days before a regatta? <g>

Feedback appreciated. Thanks.


Mark Kaynor
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