Thread: Sailmaking 101 for Goat Island Skiff, Beth

Pretty cool, Andy. I see you're confident enough to sail in jeans and street shoes.

And thanks for the reminder, during the frustratingly slow late stages of my build, of what this is really all about. It's a very nice video.
-W

Howdy,

I need help!

Because of my plans to do some sailmaking in the Philippines I need to start getting things together. Some of these items I need to work out whether best to buy here or from USA or source in the Phil. Other things I just need to double check that I am going the right way with construction. So mixed questions.

Did anyone buy a hotknife - what price did they pay? From who?

What is the size of the eyelets for the corners of the sail and the size for the lacing holes? What size for reefing holes.

Price paid for tools to set the corner eyes - from who

Did anyone use a headboard? From who? What part number?

For the folded over tape that goes over the edge of the sails - what width when folded.

How many layers in the corner and reef patches beyond the original sail layer?

How much round on the yard edge - can anyone give me their offsets - I want to compare - was that for a standard yard as in the plans or a stiffer one? How did it work out? How you measure the round of an existing sail is to do a double fold ... like a "Z" with the edge extended as the top arm of the z - the folds parallel with the head edge of the sail in this case. The double fold eliminates the effect of the broadseaming and allows the edge to sit flat. This is probably info we should have in the WIKI too.

Cheers for any help

MIK

Mik,

I sewed a SailRite kit. I'll see if I can find the specs & info that came with the kit, scan it and email it to you - but can't do that until tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Howdy,

Did anyone buy a hotknife - what price did they pay? From who?

What is the size of the eyelets for the corners of the sail and the size for the lacing holes? What size for reefing holes.

Price paid for tools to set the corner eyes - from who

Did anyone use a headboard? From who? What part number?

For the folded over tape that goes over the edge of the sails - what width when folded.

How many layers in the corner and reef patches beyond the original sail layer?

How much round on the yard edge - can anyone give me their offsets - I want to compare - was that for a standard yard as in the plans or a stiffer one? How did it work out? How you measure the round of an existing sail is to do a double fold ... like a "Z" with the edge extended as the top arm of the z - the folds parallel with the head edge of the sail in this case. The double fold eliminates the effect of the broadseaming and allows the edge to sit flat. This is probably info we should have in the WIKI too.

Cheers for any help

MIK

The grommets at the corners are #4, 1/2"
The grommets for lacing the sail and reef points are #1, 5/16"

The grommet tools I have came from SailRite as a part of a package deal when I bought the sail. I do not recall the prices.

No headboard.

Tape on the luff: 1" (2" folded over) covered with 1-1/2" (3" folded over)
Tape of the foot: 1" (2" folded over)
Tape on the head: 1" (2" folded over)
No tape on the leech (leech is folded over on itself and stitched)2

Tack: Sail panel, 5 corner patches, 4 layers of luff tape, 2 layers of foot tape: 12 layers total
Clew: Sail panel, 5 corner patches, 2 layers of foot tape, leech folded over on self 1 layer: 9 layers
Peak: Sail panel, 5 corner patches, 2 layers of head tape, leech folded over on self 1 layer: 9 layers
Throat: Sail panel, 5 corner patches, 4 layers of luff tape, 2 layers of head tape: 12 layers

I was not able to put my hands on the spec sheet today but I think I now know where it is and will dig it out tomorrow.

Hope this helps.

You are a gent Bob.

Dave LaFont, you worked this all out by yourself ... did it differ much?

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Did anyone buy a hotknife - what price did they pay? From who?

No hot knife for me. I cut using a razor, scissors, or hole punch. For the holes I fused the edges using a soldering iron.

What is the size of the eyelets for the corners of the sail and the size for the lacing holes? What size for reefing holes.

My major eyelets are handsewn with brass rings and liners, so I have no useful info for you here.

Price paid for tools to set the corner eyes - from who

ditto

Did anyone use a headboard? From who? What part number?

no. I thought those are for halyard connection/pull point?

For the folded over tape that goes over the edge of the sails - what width when folded.

On all edges I ended up with 1.5" of edging. (YOU do the metric math!) However, the head and foot were a single fold of 3" tape, 4 oz. cloth just like the sail panels. The leech I did a single fold of 3" tape, 5 oz. just because I thought it would be good to beef up this stress-bearing side. The all-important luff: double folded 6", 5 oz. tape. Also, I ran two rows of stitching.

How many layers in the corner and reef patches beyond the original sail layer?

I only added three patches at these points. I think I had some places on the luff totaling 11 layers where two edges meet (throat and foot).

How much round on the yard edge - can anyone give me their offsets - I want to compare - was that for a standard yard as in the plans or a stiffer one? How did it work out?

I built my yard standard per plans out of DF/Oregon. I measured flex two ways: per the forum discussion and wiki (i.e. hanging a standardized weight from the mid point) as well as per Dabbler Sails's method for providing them data (weight based on sail area, hung from the estimated halyard point). In the end, I added 2" of rounding to the head. As bent to the yard there is a clear crease of excess once I pull on the peak outhaul. In action, downhaul will flex the yard and flatten out the head nicely. Again, this with a standard yard per plans.

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Howdy,

I need help!

Because of my plans to do some sailmaking in the Philippines I need to start getting things together. Some of these items I need to work out whether best to buy here or from USA or source in the Phil. Other things I just need to double check that I am going the right way with construction. So mixed questions.

Did anyone buy a hotknife - what price did they pay? From who?
SOLDERING IRON

What is the size of the eyelets for the corners of the sail and the size for the lacing holes? What size for reefing holes.
#4 GROMMET FOR CORNERS, #0 OTHERWISE, I USED BRASS WITH THE LITTLE SHARP POINTS

Price paid for tools to set the corner eyes - from who
A LOT - ANVILS ALMOST $70 FROM SAILRITE, BOUGHT DEADBLOW HAMMER ($5) AND PUNCHES ($8) FROM HARBOR FREIGHT

Did anyone use a headboard? From who? What part number?
NO

For the folded over tape that goes over the edge of the sails - what width when folded.
LEECH .75" DOUBLE STITCHED FOOT .75" SINGLE STITCHED LUFF AND YARD 1.5" over 1" TRIPLE STITCHED


How many layers in the corner and reef patches beyond the original sail layer? '
FIVE, WHICH IS TOO MANY, I'D SAY FOUR IS FINE

How much round on the yard edge - can anyone give me their offsets - I want to compare - was that for a standard yard as in the plans or a stiffer one? How did it work out? How you measure the round of an existing sail is to do a double fold ... like a "Z" with the edge extended as the top arm of the z - the folds parallel with the head edge of the sail in this case. The double fold eliminates the effect of the broadseaming and allows the edge to sit flat. This is probably info we should have in the WIKI too.
I HAD JEFF ADD EXTRA ROUND IN THIS AREA, AS MY YARD IS A BIT MORE FLEXIBLE. I HAVE THE SAIL PLOT NUMBERS ON A SHEET AT HOME. I CAN PASS ALONG THE NUMBERS

Cheers for any help

MIK

Sorry, just got back on the forums! I also have three batten pockets.

Originally Posted by wesesque

Pretty cool, Andy. I see you're confident enough to sail in jeans and street shoes.

And thanks for the reminder, during the frustratingly slow late stages of my build, of what this is really all about. It's a very nice video.
-W

I got my shoes wet last Sunday, had to jump out at a ramp to prevent a submerged rock mangling after a long up channel tacking duel with a pocket cruiser out of the Coronado Yacht Club. At first I wasn't doing well and fell behind, but then experimented and sheeted harder on both tacks- enough to crease the sail from clew to the middle of the yard, and I was much faster, and higher pointing. Made up the lost ground, then drove above him right before we got back to the ramp. Very satisfying. The Goat can be fast.

Originally Posted by engblom

We want videos of you sailing with your new sail!

We got that in spades ... Super work by Andrew!

MIK

I'm going through all the threads here to work out what I have to source here as opposed to what I can get in the Philippines.

Thanks hugely!

Hey ... did the sailrite tools for the eyelets seem durable? Enough for a production setup?

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Hey ... did the sailrite tools for the eyelets seem durable? Enough for a production setup?

MIK

In my opinion, yes.

Originally Posted by BobWes

In my opinion, yes.

Thanks BowWes!

In the end I decided to go with Duckworks. They are really nicely consolidating my order from Sailrite and another place with the stuff I have on order from themselves in Texas.

Only one lot of shipping cost to Australia.

Another example of sterling service!

MIK