Sail Check 101 - Part 1

When was the last time that you took a serious look at your sails? Sails are a big part of the total investment in a sailboat and it's surprising how little attention is often given to that which powers or drives a boat. Here's a little routine that will help keep your sails in tip-top condition and ready to do their job.

Let's start with the head of the main and the headboard plate.

• Is it good and secure?
• Are all the grommets or rivets secure?
• Is the stitching intact?
• Is the shackle hole OK, not worn out?
  

From there work your way down the luff.

• Look for areas where the bolt rope was worn through the sail.
• Feel for any separations in the bolt rope or one that is separated from the body of the sail.
• Look for grommets that have pulled out or gotten out of shape.
• Check all the shackles or webbing that go through the grommets or are attached to the boltrope which in turn are attached to a slide of some sort that in turn goes up and down the mast.
  

Are your luffs crooked?

It's a simple thing to cut a straight edge or a gentle curve in the leading edge of the sail when building it, but when it comes time to attach this to a bolt rope flap, funny things happen. The next thing you know you have a slightly out-of-plumb or crooked luff. This can lead to distortion, strange wrinkles, a sail that's hard to trim, etc. It can also make it hard to raise or lower a sail. All the above items are things that you can take care of.

Now Check reef and Cunningham grommets, tack grommet

Continue on down the luff checking the reef and Cunningham grommets and on down to the tack grommet. All of these from time to time can be loaded up under great pressure and strain. Look for early signs of failure in the overlays that are built into these areas.

Work your way across the foot.

If you have grommets and slides or just a bolt rope five it the same treatment as the luff. At the back end of the sail we find one of the must abused parts of the mainsail, the outhaul or clew. At some point someone tightens the outhaul and then leaves it forever - but why? It's like turning on your windshield wipers and never turning them off. You only need windshield wipers when its raining. You need only tighten the outhaul when you are going hard to weather. Off the wind you need to relax the outhaul. At the very least relax it when you are done sailing. After long periods of outhaul stretch it will have an adverse effect on the lower half of your sail and its shape.


If you spot potential sail problems in any of these areas, it's important to act fast. The sooner you catch a problem, the better the odds for getting your sails back to like-new condition. For the best in sail cleaning, sail restoration, and sail repair, you can count on Sail Care. We've been giving new life to old sails for two decades.