UV Damaged jib

plisska

1992 Capri 14.2 Mod 2
Hello all!

I was finally able to get my capri in the water this year! :) Big problem is that my capri's previous owner left the jib furreled up and sitting in the sun for several seasons :( The leech is trashed from sun but the rest of the sail looks too good to just pitch it.

I want to try and repair my own sail if it is worth it. Now I know to take this jib to a loft may not be financially worth it. However, I enjoy projects like this and I would like to take it on myself.

Soo... Is it worth repairing! and please consider only material costs since the labor is one of love :) I will however understand if the job is too complex to even attempt.

I cant explain the damage better than these pictures can show.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/513/photo44l.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/photo43i.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/221/photo45w.jpg/

The first image shows how papery(word?) the leech is.

The Second shows the strip of damage.

The third looks to be a complex area to repair. The jib clew is bleached out but not tearing at all. However, the red dacron that makes up the leech is totally dead.
 

Attachments

  • photo (43).JPG
    photo (43).JPG
    364.1 KB · Views: 62
  • photo (44).JPG
    photo (44).JPG
    355.9 KB · Views: 57
  • photo (45).JPG
    photo (45).JPG
    354.5 KB · Views: 50
Plisska,

I'm not an expert in sail repair or even a noobie, but I have been around boats most of my life, that sails looks pretty much spent to me. I just bought a used capri with new sails and the owner said it cost him $1,000 for both directly from catalina, so I would assume or guess the new jib would be from 300-400 of that cost.

Hartman
 
If you go to www dot mastheadsailinggear dot com and search their used sails (try 13 ft in the headsail search window) you'll find many Snipe jibs (North, Solbstad, JSI, Quantum) in various conditions with and without hanks for under $100. Mine is a North with lots of crispiness and I have to tell you that it is better than the Catalina -- I can point higher and the boat steers with neutral helm. In addition they are great to work with and really know their inventory.

-- Ed
 
Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I will indeed look for a used sail online. I was not aware I could use a defferent brand sail.

p.s. What range of specific dimensions would work well on a capri 14.2 jib?
 
Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I will indeed look for a used sail online. I was not aware I could use a defferent brand sail.

p.s. What range of specific dimensions would work well on a capri 14.2 jib?

Just be informed that the Snipe jib is not class legal. However, the Snipe jib has a 12.4 ft luff (13.3), 11.5 ft leech (12.6), and a 6.5 ft foot (7.9) -- the numbers in parentheses are the Catalina jib dimensions from the handbook. My jib came with a wire luff with velcro tabs (Masthead also included twist hanks which I didn't install -- the tabs are sufficient). The Snipe jib has a downhaul grommet so that you can tighten the luff without changing the stay tension with the jib halyard, and comes with an aircraft fork (like the new Catalina shrouds and stays do) tack that works perfectly with my boat.

If you look on Masthead's used sail page, you'll see that he lists dimensions along with every sail; I don't think you'll find another suitable jib other than the Snipe (luckily, there are tons of those for sale!) that comes with a wire luff. But as you can see, I opted for a smaller sail than the factory jib partly since I'm soloing mostly and also since the used racing Snipe jibs are more available.

-- Ed
 
Went ahead and bought a snipe jib. I have no idea what color it is! :) I really hope it doesnt look dumb considering it is a cross-cut sail and my main is a red,white, and blue radial :/

Thank you so much for the tip Ed I apperciate it!
 
I'm sure you'll love your jib too. Most of them are white -- I sailed my white jib with my old blue/yellow main for a whole season and nobody pointed at me and laughed. Now both sails are white and I look just like the rest of the boats: bland.
IMG_3071.jpg
 
So my snipe sail came today and to my surprise it is a clear mylar sail! I do not know how to attach this thing to my roller furler. I do not know if the snipe forestay it came with is the right length, it certainly does not attach the same as the carpi(see photos). The snipe wire appears of a lighter gauge than my capri wire. Now, should I take out the forstay from my capri jib and put the snipe jib on over that?

http://postimage.org/image/x41e1wzqp/

http://postimage.org/image/kqojv0a29/

http://postimage.org/image/4uzprpjht/



 
Interesting! My jib came with an aircraft fork that fit easily over the deck plate and which I attached with a normal 3/16" clevis pin. I don't have a roller furler so I don't know what the top of the roller attachment is. It seems that you could find the hardware at APS or West Marine though.

The luff wire looks plenty strong for our boat, but again I'm using my forestay too.

If you bought from Masthead, you might give him a call and explain your problem. He is very helpful and probably will fix you up with a dacron sail that has an aircraft fork like mine.

Good luck.

-- Ed
 

Back
Top