Sailmaking Weather Again

I returned from Florida this week with renewed enthusiasm to get back to building, but working in an open shed this time of year is hit and miss. Tuesday was a fairly nice day and I did some work on the starboard hull companionway steps and made some other interior layout decisions. But yesterday was a whole day of steady cold rain, which turned to snow this morning. By noon today everything was covered, but it won't last long as temperatures are rising again.

The jib that I assembled last spring from a Sailrite kit has been stored away awaiting the finish work that must be done by hand. I got it out yesterday and started to work on the corners. The Sailrite kits utilize sewn brass rings for reinforcing the tack, head and clew rather than pressed rings. Installing them takes some time, but is rather pleasant work, hand sewing with the help of an awl and sailmaker's palm.

Below is the sewn-in ring for the tack. I had already completed the installation of the wire luff, which is also hand-sewn into the corner of the sail.

After the ring is sewn in place through all the layers of Dacron reinforcing patches in the corner, it is then laced to the thimble of the luff wire using about 40 turns of waxed sailmaker's twine.

The final step in finishing the corner is to dress it in protective leather. This was also done with an awl and sailmaker's twine. The photo below shows the tack. The head of the sail is treated the same way, and is also complete.

The clew of the jib is done a bit different, as there is no wire or thimble to reinforce. Instead, a larger #9 brass ring is sewn into the corner and then using a die set and hammer, a #9 brass eyelet is pressed inside the ring to form a smooth, chafe-proof interior for attaching the jib sheets. The outer corner is protected by a strip of leather.

There are two more rings like the above one at the clew that must be sewn in at the reef point tack and clew. Then I have to install the grommets for the reef points and hanks and then the hanks, and this sail will be finished.

Sailmaking: Machine Work Complete on the Jib

I had put the sailmaking project aside for awhile but this morning I finished all the machine sewing with the completion of the luff wire installation. The leech edge, shown above, was much easier than the luff, since there was only a small Dacron cord in it for the leech line. Sewing the heavier coated steel wire into the luff was more difficult, due to the fabric wanting to distort and bunch up as it entered the machine. You're supposed to be able to sew the luff tape sleeve first with just a small messenger line inside and then pull the wire luff through, but due to the size of the swaged eyes on each end of the wire I couldn't do this and so had to sew the sleeve with the wire in place.

After both outer edges of the sleeve are sewn to the sail with a zig-zag stitch, entrapping the wire, a roping/zipper foot is then put on the machine to allow it to sew a tight line of straight stitches right behind the wire, which makes the edge look finished and neat and keeps the luff wire right out front, on the leading edge where it's supposed to be. This operation is shown below:

Here's a short video clip as well, showing the same operation, making the tight line of stitches just behind the luff wire with a zipper foot installed. You'll notice I'm having to start and stop a lot. This is so I can keep forcing the wire out front, smoothing the luff sleeve and making sure the stitches are going right behind the wire as close as possible. Also note the less than ideal conditions; working on the floor and having to use my hand to operate the foot switch. Not the best situation, but it works, and with this sail nearly done, I'm looking forward to building the mainsail.

Here is a view of the tack corner of the sail, showing the installed luff wire after this row of stitches has been run. Also note that the eye in the end of the wire has been let into the leading edge of the luff sleeve by cutting it back a bit. It was then hand sewn in place with heavy sailmaker's twine. The next step will be to install a sewn brass ring just inside the corner a bit from this eye, then the ring and the eye will be joined together with many more hand stitches. The sewn ring spreads the load into the heavily-reinforced corner patch. The same thing will be done at the head of the sail. This hand work requires a considerable amount of force to push the large needle through all those layers of 7.5oz Dacron. A sailmakers palm helps a lot. More on this hand sewing in a future post:

Jib Panels Assembled

I finished the assembly of all the major panels for the jib sail this past Sunday. The reinforcing patches for the head, tack, and clew are all done too, as well as the patches for the reef point tack and clew. Getting to this stage went smoothly and took far less time than I anticipated. The shape of the sail came out just right, and the dimensions for luff, leech and foot are all correct. Shown below is the completed assembly. Remaining work includes finishing the leech and installing the leech line and cleats, finishing the foot edge, and finishing off the luff with the luff wire and and sail hanks. The tack and head will be reinforced with sewn brass rings laced to the wire end thimbles, and the clew and reef points will be form with pressed brass rings. All three corners also require hand-sewn leather reinforcement patches. I stopped work on the sail as the weather got better, and went outside to work on the starboard hull again. The jib will be finished perhaps later this week or the next time bad weather prevents epoxy and carpentry work.


Below is a close-up of the stitching detail at the tack of the sail. All corners and reef points are reinforced with the layered patches of cloth as shown here. Built of 7.5 oz. Supercruise Dacron, I have no doubt that this will be a long-lasting and strong headsail.

Sailmaking Weather

This is the kind of weather that slows down the boatbuilding process when you're working in an open, unheated shed. Today it's just raining, but when I took this photo Friday morning, a heavy wet fog had drifted in and soaked everything in the shed, including all the inside and outside surfaces of the hulls. This made epoxy work impossible for most of the day, but yesterday I did have a short period of decent weather and was able to work on preparing and installing stringers for the starboard floor panels. Since more of this kind of weather is likely in January, I broke out my new Sailrite sewing machine and spent much of Friday getting used to operating it by making some canvas bags. By evening I was feeling confident enough to start working on the jib kit. The machine sews flawlessly so far, easily feeding the slick Dacron cloth thanks to the walking foot feature, and making perfect zig-zag stitches with correct tension right out of the box.

The sail kit seems straightforward enough. All parts are precision cut and labeled. You simply match up the seam lines, baste the parts together with Seamstick tape, and run a double row of stitches down each side. Stitching in a straight line is similar to cutting with a jigsaw or circular saw. You just have to go slow and pay attention to what you are doing. I'm pleased with the results so far, shown below:

I started with the smaller, upper panels of the sail, as they are easier to handle and the seams are shorter. At the head of the sail is a patch assembly consisting of 5 layers of progressively bigger patches to distribute the load from the halyard. These are sewn on with the smaller patches sandwiched inside. There are other patches that will be sewn on at the tack and clew, and also at the reef line tack and clew. I decided to stick with a traditional hank-on jib with a single row of reef points as shown on the Tiki 26 sailplan. I will also make a smaller storm jib for conditions when the single reef is not enough. I don't like the complication and expense of roller furling, and from my past experience with smaller Wharram cats I know that changing headsails is not too difficult on such a stable platform, especially with the safety of the forward tramp to work on. I also plan to fit a continuous halyard that allows the jib to instantly be doused in an emergency without the need to go forward to the tramp. This is done running the halyard from the head of the sail, down the mast to the usual cleat or clutch, but instead of terminating it there, it continues forward to a turning block near the tack of the sail and up the luff to fasten at the head of the sail just like the other end. The jib can then be raised or lowered with a single line.

Here is one of the seam details showing the quality of the zig-zag stitches the Sailrite machine makes - click on the photo for a larger view. If I can keep all the seams this consistent, I will be happy with the sail. The luff and leech ends of each row of stitches will be finished off later with the folded Dacron tape that is sewn on the edges. The leech has a control line fitted inside, and the luff has a wire rope with thimbles at the tack and head that are also hand sewn to brass rings in the corners.

I'm building the sail in sub-assemblies because of the size and the limited amount of floor space I have. Here, the foot panel is being sewn onto the bottom full-sized panel. At just over 10 feet, this is the longest seam between panels. The next step will be to complete the tack and clew patches of this sub-assembly before sewing this to the next panel and then adding the top half of the sail. I'm not even bothering to keep up with my hours on this project, but so far it hasn't taken long at all. It's interesting work and gives me something to do when I can't work with epoxy. Best of all, I'm saving a substantial chunk of change that can be put into other things for the boat, and getting the sewing experience I will need for the more complicated projects such as the dodger/decktent I plan to build.

Another Set of Skills

Building a boat like the Tiki 26 involves much more than carpentry skills. To complete all phases of building and outfitting a cruising catamaran, one must not only be able to work with wood, epoxy and fiberglass, but also with rope and wire rigging, electrical components and wiring, metal and hardware fabrication and installation, and of course, canvas and other essential fabrics.

Many boatbuilders hire someone else to do their canvas work and sailmaking, and that is certainly a viable option and is possibly the quickest, but also the most expensive way to get this phase of the project done. A boat such as the Tiki 26 offers so many options and possibilities, however, when it comes to custom canvas, that I already knew I wanted to do my own. Hiring a professional would be out of the question in my case as there will not only be front and rear trampolines to make, but some sort of dodger/deck tent combination, sail covers, interior organizers and other custom items that are best done right on or near the boat so that a good fit can be assured.

Since I knew I would be doing all this other canvas work for the boat and I enjoyed learning how to do it when I was refitting my Tiki 21 last year, I decided that I would not only tackle all these projects but also make the sails as well. There was a time when practically all sailors made their own sails as well as built their own boats, but that's way out of the mainstream these days. But thanks to Sailrite, the do-it-yourself sailmaking supplier of kits, materials and sewing machines, making your own sails is within reach of anyone with a determination to attempt it. Sailrite provides pre-cut, professionally-designed kits with labeled panels and all the hardware and other bits needed to complete the sail, as well as detailed instructions aimed at the first-time sailmaker. They've been working with Wharram catamaran designs for years and have the sailplans for all the Tiki range and others. They have delivered quite a few Tiki 26 sail kits over the years and I've spoken with a couple of Tiki 26 builders who have made their sails from these kits and were quite satisfied. So after receiving a wide range of quotes from various sailmakers who could provide Tiki 26 sails, I decided to become my own sailmaker, or at least try. I ordered the kit for the jib first, as it will be less complicated than the mainsail with it's zipper luff pocket. The complete kit is shown below. It's quite a pile of parts, perhaps a bit more intimidating than the stack of plywood that I started building the boat with. But really, sewing is just a matter of careful measuring, cutting and assembly, using tools and keeping things in line, just like in carpentry. Instead of stitch and glue, as in assembling the hulls, the sails are glued (with seamstick tape to hold the panels in place temporarily) and then stitched. Should be a piece of cake! (Right!) Anyway, if this goes well, I'll order the mainsail kit next.

I started dabbling in sewing last year with an old heavy-duty home machine that gave me nothing but headaches with tension adjustments, lack of power and other problems. There's enough sewing to do in outfitting this boat to justify a decent machine, so I ordered Sailrite's recommended model, the Ultrafeed LSZ-1. This portable but seriously heavy-duty machine features a walking foot to enable it to feed many layers of heavy canvas or Dacron, and is capable of making the wide zig-zag stitches needed in sailmaking. I'll spend some time getting familiar with it making small projects before I jump into the sailmaking. The jib kit should be just right for one of those rainy, cold weeks we'll be having soon as winter approaches.

More info about Sailrite sail kits and sewing machines is available on their website at http://www.sailrite.com/