We started building kites a few years back and since then have been asked many times if we could do sail repairs. Now we can say yes as our Consew 199R-1A zig zag handles heavy and light repair jobs. Currently we are only doing repairs for local Toledo area windsurfers.

• Windsurfing Sail Repairs
• SP Fin Bag
• SP Kayak Kites
• SP Scrappy Tails
• Peter Lynn Buggy Seat Back
• Fabrics, Monoflim,X-ply
• Ripstock
• Binding and Tapes
• Thread,Stitches,Needles
  

 Windsurfing Sail Repairs

Please note I'm only willing to do repairs for locals that can drop off a sail. Also my Consew 199 machine doesn't do a 3 step zigzag stitch which is commonly used on sails. It does do normal zigzag or straight stitches which we feel work well for most repairs. Where normally a wide 3 step zigzag is used the best we can do is use two side by side one step zigzag stitches.

Instructions

Please Email me first to discuss a time to meet so I can look at the sail.

Sail size 8.5 max .. sorry my current 15' work room can't easily handle larger than a 8' sail roll. The sail must be very very clean, if not, I can't work on it. Sand can kill a sewing machine! I will not wash your sail for you!

• Take all the battens out.
• Shake and brush all the sand off. Shake sail bag out well also!
• if dried mud on sail, then spray off with hose, then dry sail well.
  

Costs

I'm reasonable and have to see it before giving a repair quote.

Repair Methods

Small rips less than 4 inches in X-ply or monofilm not near a seam usually can be stablized with 3" mylar repair tape. We have some special tough sail repair 3" wide tape that works very well available in the online catalog under sails.

For small repairs in dacron a dacron adhesive tape patch with zigzag stitches does the job.

Small rips or holes in luff sleeves can be patched using HeatnBond on a dacron patch then hand sew stitches around the edge of the patch. Use a BIC lighter to melt edges of any small holes to stop further fraying.

For larger X-ply or monofilm rips usually the whole panel section must be replaced. A shortcut to avoid replacing an entire panel is to create a new sub-panel section. Often a new sub-panel seam won't be all that noticeable cosmetically. Well seasoned monofilm may not hold a new seam for a sub-panel. However once the monofilm is under seam tape it is protected from UV rays.

Full Panel Lumbodomi

First you tape up the rip or hole very nicely using clear packing or duct tape on both sides.

Main panel edges are not straight and are curved surprisingly as much as 1/4" to 1/2" in a very large sail. Thus when sewed together the sail will not lie perfectly flat and will have some wrinkles in it.

1. Pin the four corners of the panel down on a board and get the panel looking as flat as possible. Roll up a bit of newspaper if need be and place in the middle of the panel to help remove any wrinkles. If you have batten pockets to contend with put the side the tensioner is on down as you'll only be taking one side of the pocket off and usually I don't that as I'll explain later.

2. Now place the new panel stock on top and pin it down also, then draw lines around the edges where you will cut. When finished then cut the new panel to size. It's best to use a rotary cutter. If panel has batten pockets along it's sides you need to extend the panel 1/4" beyond the other side to allow for the tunnel hump the batten rod needs. If the batten is big or small that amount can vary but it's best to be longer than too short.

3. Then on just the front sleeve side rip the old thread out and take seam tape off just the top side. If the panel is between batten pockets just rip thread out to the pockets, don't take pocket apart yet. Put down double sided seam tape. I like to run a couple of pieces of double sided tape in the middle of the panel to really stablize it. Put the old seam tape on, then sew up and put your lock stictch in the edge of the old batten pocket.

4. Now that the front edge is fixed do the same on the top side, bottom side and then the clew side. Batten pockets can be a hassle and taking them apart is time consuming and then you got to be extremely careful you get everything glued and lined up together again before sewing which is pretty much impossible. What I do is not take the pocket apart and just put on a new dacron pocket layer over the new panel using sticky seam tape to hold it together. The trick here is to sew real slow and use the same zigzag holes! That sounds impossible but is doable by hand cranking the machine. Be sure to sew the inside seam first. Before sewing the outside seam I put in a 3/8" wood dowl to get a little hump going on there.

5. When all sewed up you can then cut away the old panel.

X-Ply

X-ply laminiates now come in various colors and patterns and thicknesses and what is readily available changes each season. We do have access to a few of the most popular types so we might be able to match. See the materials section on this page.

Kite Repairs

We can sew lightweight ripstock patches over tears in ripstock nylon. We don't do bladder repairs.

SP Fin Bag

Peter Lynn XR Buggy Seat Back

Made of 7mil dacron, 1/4" lumina wood, 4" x 1" stiffener, 1/2" foam pad and edged with 1" nylon webbing. It is just the right width to set on back straps and go between the big back webbing belt on the seat.

Below is one option of mounting this seat back and it's one that is quick and easy and involves no other straps. The straps on the XR buggy seat hold it in place. However this is not the most comfortable setup see next images. The bungie rope is optional and keeps the seatback back elsewise you have to push it back by hand each time you get in the buggy which is a pain when you are flying a quad line kite.

This setup uses two Dakine rack straps. The top straps loops around the right siderail to the front and back the left siderail while the other rear strap just wraps across the two siderails. This allows one to adjust the height and keep the bottom of the seatback away from the seat. It definitely is the way to go and accomplishes the feeling of setting in a lounge chair while you buggy!

SP P-Cone Kite Tail

another pic of the P-Cone

Scrappy Tails

We have a lot of scrap ripstock left over from building big kites and instead of throwing it away we decided to be green and make kites tails out of it. The tails are a big 20 foot long by 2 inches wide. Each end has a loop on it so you can tie them together or even fly a small spinner from the end of the tail. Colors match our K-Parafoils. Look for them in the catalog under kite tails.

 Materials

4oz dacron sail cloth is used for batten pockets, reinforcing and for sail panels in small sized sails. Heavier 5.8 oz dacron is used in mast sleeves and sail panels in trainer sails.

Monoflim comes in three standard sizes(thickness), 4.0 mil, 5.0 mil and 7.0 mil. 5.0 mil is most commonly used, however many sails feature stepped construction where foot panel is 7.0 mil reducing down to a top panel of 4.0 mil.

X-ply is usually two sheets of mylar with some combination of fibers of Spectra, Kevlar or Carbon laminated between. The X pattern increases the strength greatly. X-ply also comes in various thicknesses, the two popular are the 4 mil and 5 mil. Custom X-ply laminates with exotic fibered patterns and colored adhesives are now the trend. The latest metalic coated versions offer better UV resistance.

Laminate sailcoth technology for large sailcraft sails is something to checkout if you have the time. Some of these exotic fabrics have already found there way into windsurf sail construction. The downside is the cost of the materal can be 10 times that of monofilm per yard. However often you will see that the foot and sections just behind the luff sleeve in new windsurf sails are made of a fiber laminate.

Ripstock nylon for spinnakers and kites comes in .50 oz, .75 oz, 1 oz and 1.5 oz weights. .75 oz is the thickness used in general kite building. There are hundreds of ripstock types available from as many cloth companies. New coated/composite ripstocks are now the trend.

Fabric & Monofilm for the do it yourselfer

We usually have a few yards of the basics available for sale(1 yd minimum). For items we don't have, we usually are willing to order(5 yd minimum). Email us if interested. Send self addressed envelope for small sample.

. Dacron comes in blue,green,yellow,orange,lilac,hot pink,hot red,grey black and natural

Ripstock

We build our K-Parafoil and 2 Layer kite currently from four colors of Dilon 100 ripstock and thus usually have several if not more yards available. This is an impregnated fabric with great stretch characteristics and flatness. This is a proprietary double ripstop design that dramatically increases tear strength. Grade A 1st quality only. Send self addressed envelope for samples.

Webbing, Binding Tapes, Ribbon & Seam Tapes

Webbing

Take your pick of Nylon or Polyester versions in many thicknesses and widths. Poly is cheaper but less UV resilant. Can be purchased about anywhere including local hardware stores. Heavier dense weaves are of course better for sail usage and harder to find.

Binding Tapes

Nylon edge binding (non-adhesive) is frequently used on the outer edges of kites and on foot and leech edges of sails. Edge binding is much thinner than strap type webbing. There are dozens of companies that each manufacturer many different thicknesses, weaves and colors in nylon or polyester. My favorite is Military-Type III binding that is incredibly strong, light and durable.

Ribbon

Gross grain ribbon is used for things like bridal attach straps on kites. Strong length wise and usually in 1/4 to 1/2 inch widths. Another not so easily found item.

Seam Reinforcement Tapes

A strong adhesive tape made of 3oz or 4oz dacron and impossible to find in the US. Windsurf sails use a lot of this tape in 1/2, 5/8 and 3/4 inch widths. I'm hoping someone can tell me where to get this item some day. 2" wide sticky back 3 oz dacron repair tape is availabe from several sources and I often use that cutting it down to the width I need for a seam repair. The other option is to cut 4.0 oz dacron strips and use a canvas basting tape to make your own monofilm seam tapes.

Thread & Stitches & Needles

Sail thread also comes in various sizes. For lightweight material like ripstock V30 or V46 is used and for windsurfing sails V69 and V92 is used. Modern nylon thread is so strong you can't break it with your bare hands. Like most things UV rays weakens thread over time. There now are some very UV resistant threads availabe but unfortunately they currently costs severals times more.

Straight and 2 step Zigzag stitch types are common but if you look close at your sails you will find that large zigzags patterns are 3 Step Zigzag stitches. A straight line of close holes tends to tear like a perforated paper seam. Thus a wide multistep zigzag stitch is commonly used.

The larger the thread the larger the needle must be. Tough materials like monofilm require using a needle larger than what you might expect is required. For V30 or V46 thread a #12 needle works ok. For V69 a #18 needle works ok on a few layers of dacron. However if your going through a couple layers of dacron and monofilm a #21 needle is probably gona work better. V92 thread also requires at least a size #22 needle.

The SP Kenmore and Consew Tables

Our cutting table for big work!