Removing Sail From Spars

J

james1111

New Member
Hello again,

I'm wondering, how difficult is it to remove the sail from the spars? I am considering buying a Sunfish but I will need to keep it at a public marina, and I will need to leave the spars with the boat outdoors. During the sailing season I'm sure I'll just roll up the entire rig and stow it under the boat, but in off season I'd like to remove the sail completely from the spars (I think). Thanks.
 
James,

Removing the sails is not hard to do, but most people don't unless it is to change sails. I use a modified paper punch, others use a flat screwdriver th pry the clips open. If you are storing your spars and sails outdoors, get a SF sail/spar bag from some place like APS, Masthead, Colie, Team Foxey or such. The bag does two things for you, most important is protecting the sail from UV rays which will kill the sail pretty quickly, second it keeps every thing to gether in one nice neat package and protected from dirt and bugs. During the off season, many just keep the sails in the bag (my method), on the spars or if the have a large enough space (basement), let the sails just hang from the spars hanging from the joists. No matter what you do, make sure the sails and lines are dry before storing or you may have mold and/or mildew forming on the sails. I installed a gromet in each end on the bag I have for drainage in case I had to put the sail away wet or was caught in the rain. I then dry my sails as soon as possible. DO NOT wrap you sails around the spars, roll them up ( a pool noodle can help here) to the spars and secure the sail to the spars with a ball and loop bungee or rope gently tied. Any more questions, ask.
 
james1111 said:
Hello again,

I'm wondering, how difficult is it to remove the sail from the spars? I am considering buying a Sunfish but I will need to keep it at a public marina, and I will need to leave the spars with the boat outdoors. During the sailing season I'm sure I'll just roll up the entire rig and stow it under the boat, but in off season I'd like to remove the sail completely from the spars (I think). Thanks.
Click to expand...

As Supercub noted, taking the sail off is easy and should take about 10 min (with the proper tool to pry the rings open).
 
I always had a very hard time getting the clips open, so how I use the ties. But when I had the clips i had to take the sail off once. For the upper spar its real easy, all you do it untie the halyard, and undo the bolt at the tack, and slide it out. For the boom, you have to really undo all the clips. When I did that I always ended up breaking at least one.
 
I tried to make a clip remover with the hole puncher but failed. I ended up looking through all my husband tools, including tools that I inherited from my uncle from the 40's-60's. I found a neat ring removal tool sort of like a pair of pliers. The nose is closed when the handle is open but when you push the handles close the nose pops open. The nose tip is bent a bit and has a notch that I can place on the male part of the clip and then push the handle close and the clip pops off. It's neat and fast. The best I can tell is that this tool is a snap ring remover, I can try to post a picture if there is an interest.

Cindy
 
Cindy Taylor said:
I tried to make a clip remover with the hole puncher but failed. I ended up looking through all my husband tools, including tools that I inherited from my uncle from the 40's-60's. I found a neat ring removal tool sort of like a pair of pliers. The nose is closed when the handle is open but when you push the handles close the nose pops open. The nose tip is bent a bit and has a notch that I can place on the male part of the clip and then push the handle close and the clip pops off. It's neat and fast. The best I can tell is that this tool is a snap ring remover, I can try to post a picture if there is an interest.

Cindy
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply. It would be interesting to see a picture of this tool. If I can suggest something, if it is not too much of a faux pas, what about just using shower curtain rings? They are so easy to pull apart (by hand) and can be used over and over. I hope this is not an embarrassment to the Sunfish community, but as they say, if it works... :)
 
If you are going to race you can't use shower rings, and if they come open so easily, you might want to consider what they are going to do when you are out sailing and the wind pipes up to 15 knots or so.....
 
Shower rings do work in light air, but like Beldar said anything windy and they pop open. They are designed to open if you pull to hard on a shower curtain so you don't rip the curtain.
I bought an extra set of sali clip rings just because they do age and harden over time and will break sooner or later when trying to open them.
When looking for snap ring pliers you need external pliers so when you squeeze the handles you force the tips apart. A google search will turn up litterally hundrds of photos in tool company sites. A cheapo pair will run about $5
 
Hi James I bought my Fish a few Months ago and it came with rings and Ties. My Dealer advised me to go with the Ties which I did and am happy with the sailing performance so far. Does anyone out there have any preferance between the two ways of fastening the sail?
 
You can use the search function to find more about this topic (ties vs clips); it's been discussed before on this forum.
 
Wavedancer said:
You can use the search function to find more about this topic (ties vs clips); it's been discussed before on this forum.
Click to expand...


Thanks everyone. This is all very helpful information. I did not realize this was already so extensively discussed.
 
...... something from the past
 

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Wayne,

That picture is just about what I came up with when I modified the hole punch. Get the punch at Wal-Mart, Office Depot or such for about a buck and get a standard round hole of about 1/4" diameter. About 15 minutes with a Dremel tool with cutoff wheel and some sand paper to smooth out the edges (important as to not drag or cut the sail) and I had a tool that everyone in the SF group wants to borrow. To use, slip the lower jaw between the sail Grommet and clip until the jaw hits the clip post and then squeeze, the punch part pushes the post back through the clip and apart. Faster and simpler than screwdrivers, pliers and other makeshift tools. I have included a couple of pictures and yes, I can see a little rust, but that's character for the tool.
 

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I have the same setup as supercub. Mine was a dollar store item and after a little trimming with side cuts and a file. It works REALLY great and it is really fast too. Makes the job a breeze.
 
I don't have a Sunfish in front of me (to see), but can't the sail and clips be slipped off the spars as a unit? :confused:

(Kind of lumpy sail storage, though). :p
 
To get the sail off something will have to be removed, the clips or the blocks on lower spar. Also, and I am not familiar with newer spars, but on the older spars there is an eye bolt through the end of each spar that the clew and head are tied to. These would most likely have to be removed to slip the sail off.
 
Porpoise2,

There is not a lot of clearence between the clip and the spar, they will cant (tilt) and jam as you try and slide them along the spar. As Scap pointed out, there are a lot of things in the way. The top spar has the endcap with eye (or eyebolt) and any tape used to keep your halyard from slipping. The bottom spar has the endcap, mainsheet boom blocks, gooseneck and if set up for racing, a pair of clam cleats. Since all of these items are rivited or pinned to the boom, removing them is not practical. It is faster and easier to "pop" the clips to remove your sail. You can then fold it up and store it neatly (not lumpy) and put the clips in a seperated bag (I've used a quart size freezer zip-lock bag). The clips (about 55 cents each) are also much cheaper to replace than any other part on the spars.
 
James,

Since you started this thread, I have another suggestion for your spar storeage problem. Instead of a bag as I earlier suggested, you may want to use a piece of 8" PVC pipe (6" is too small) with end caps. It will do the same as the bag. Make one end removable (screw cap) to get the spars in and out. You can also drill a couple of holes for drainage and a cable to secure the pipe to a fixed object so it can't be stolen. Make the removeable cap lockable also. See the Dickson Trailer article under Tips and Tricks on the SF Class home page. Remember, don't store you sails wet if you can help it.
 
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