A new sail for Bugsy

  • 20 Nov 2023 20:30
    Reply # 13281821 on 13202628
    Your new sail looks excellent, Alex! Great work.
    Last modified: 20 Nov 2023 20:30 | Anonymous member
  • 20 Nov 2023 19:53
    Reply # 13281803 on 13202628
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The sail looks beautiful Alex. Well done!

    There's a lot going on in the action photo - look at that broadside wake! That photo is magazine-cover material, if you ask me.

    Speaking of which - yes, I agree with you, time for another shout-out and hat's off to Lynda and the editorial team for yet another beautifully presented product.


    PS I'd love to see Bugsy matched up against this little fleet of Bruce Farr trailer boats.


    Last modified: 20 Nov 2023 20:20 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 19 Nov 2023 08:04
    Reply # 13281295 on 13202628

    I’ve just been out for my third sail. I have replaced the old alum tube battens with heavier tube 25mm x 1.5mm, Paul Thomson did advise me this would be necessary. Also my mainsheet had a twist in it and the power wasn’t getting to the top of the sail preventing the leech from doing its wor k. I have fitted Hong Kong parrels and they have taken a lot of the diagonal creases out of the lower panels with more adjustments still to do. My old flat sail was easily oversheeted and I note the new sail can be sheeted much further inboard. 
    With these adjustments it was immediately apparent how the windward performance has improved. The improved angle when the sail filled a the new tack was pronounced, tacking through 90 to 100 degrees and maintains lots of power in fairly light breeze with a light helm. I will be playing with it for ages and look forward to getting out with the local fleet for some comparison 

    1 file
  • 28 Oct 2023 07:05
    Reply # 13272624 on 13202628

    Thanks Kurt, it seems to perform better, I reckon the battens between the bottom 4 panels are bending with the downward pull of the main sheet against the HK parrels. I was warned by Paul Thompson I would need heavier battens. Already I am plotting another panel as I have plenty of mast to play with. Also the top panel luffs while the bottom ones are still drawing, maybe too much twist. So lots of messing about yet all good fun.

  • 27 Oct 2023 15:02
    Reply # 13272346 on 13202628

    Alex, that looks great!


    Interested to hear more about it, and how different it is from a flat sail as you use it more. Thanks!

  • 26 Oct 2023 04:46
    Reply # 13271669 on 13202628

    Hey presto here is the new sail. When I first hoisted it I thought, yoiks,what did I do wrong. Back to the website and realised Hong Kong parells were needed. I’ve only been out twice and still tuning but the difference in power from the old flat sail is immediately apparent. I am keen to make a file to document my sailmaking experience and will do so shortly

    3 files
  • 29 Jul 2023 01:00
    Reply # 13233711 on 13202628

    I am now well into making my new sail. I purchased some Weathermax LT cloth and have cut the bottom 4 panels and working on the patterns for the top 3 panels. I am using the barrel method for a copy of Arnes Greif 650 sail reduced appropriately for my smaller boat. I was able to build a table 4.8 x 1.2 mths at bench height so I haven’t had to work on the floor. Arne mentions o small hollow n the leach of top panels and I wonder what this achieves. Also I am using 50 mm webbing as a bolt rope and wonder if straight stitching might add to its resistance to stretching. This week I will be sewing. The process is absorbing but would be almost impossible for me without Arnes book, thankyou Arne.


  • 10 Jun 2023 03:51
    Reply # 13213397 on 13202628

    Thanks Gary every little piece of experience helps me

    Thanks also Paul, I am keen to make this sail as light as possible an d will investigate the contender cloth. What a goldmine the JRA website is!!!

  • 10 Jun 2023 00:31
    Reply # 13213360 on 13202628

    For sails of the size for a Farr 5000 I'm now using Contender Stormlight Polyester 3.4oz.... amongst others that I'm currently making sails for out of this cloth is Gary Pick's Hartley TS16.

    The cloth is light, super strong with minimal stretch and being polyester it is reasonably UV resistant. It is also a pleasure to work with. The big boys use it for storm spinnakers.

    If making a sail for a boat like the Farr, I'd only consider a cambered sail.

    Last modified: 11 Jun 2023 00:27 | Anonymous member
  • 09 Jun 2023 12:47
    Reply # 13213010 on 13202628

    Sewed a 326 SQ FT cambered sail for Redwing, it took me 5 or 6 Fridays as I had to do it in a meeting room. Not a lot of straight lines in my stitching but over a period of 7 years it never failed me.

       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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