All four patterns are now lofted on painters paper including the rounding.

Making one seam and pocket sounds like a good idea. I think I will need to get some seatbelt webbing first.

It seems like the Swela Outguard that Jami used might not be available in the US. Does anyone know if there is a similar fabric available in my part of the world?

Got the top panel pattern drawn yesterday -- except the rounding. I hope to get that done shortly. Then only one more pattern to go! I am realizing now that the first, lowest, pattern I made is likely the most critical to get 'right'. I need to go back and check all the measurements on that again. With my cheap protractor the rise looks a lot closer to 9 degrees than 10 degrees.

I ordered small sample swatches for several different fabrics and also two yards of the POLYESTER RIPSTOP (DWR) - 2.6 OZ. I am not totally sure what I am going to do other than pull on them to see how they 'feel' and then maybe check that my sewing machine can stitch through several layers.

This POLYESTER RIPSTOP (DWR) - 2.6 OZ is the closest thing I have been able to find to the ' 92 gm/sq m/2.7 oz sq yd textured ripstop polyester from Pennine Outdoor' (broken link now) that David T. first mentioned and that Jami J. decided to use.

I think Jami's boat and type of sailing are very similar to my own. I would like to find a fabric similar to what Jami used.

Scott wrote:

David, 

Thank you for the suggestion to use load-spreading patches with the Odyssey material. If I understood correctly this would mean only two triangular patches. One in the upper most panel all the way aft (peak) and one in the upper most panel all the way forward (throat). Is my understanding of the throat and peak correct? I have to say that describing the material as having a 'high proportion of filler' is making me rethink using this as sail cloth. I am interested to know what cloth you personally recommend for a 22 sq ft sail.

Your understanding is correct. But use more than one patch in each place - two or three is usual at points of high stress, smaller patch first, then larger on top.

The conventional choice will always be polyester sailcloth, which after all's said and done is made for the job in hand. 4 -5 oz would be right for your boat. Most of them only come in 36in width, which is inconvenient if you want to get a whole panel out of one cloth. Boring white is available in 58in width. 4 oz in sailmaker's measure = 5 oz/sq yd. Sailmaker's measure means one yard of length at 28.5in wide - don't ask why, the reason is lost in the mists of time.

But we're not conventional, and there's a point in making junk sails from soft UV resistant cloth. These are heavier than 4 oz, but I don't have any problem with that - I'm using 9 oz/sq yd cloth on Weaverbird. Weathermax 80 is still a front runner, if you can work around its tendency to pucker when sewn along its length. That's easy if cutting a barrel-cut 2D panel lengthwise from one cloth, as the only sewing is along the batten seam, and puckering is actually good, as it gathers up some unwanted excess of length in the edge. 

Scott,

Keep in mind the bad experience that some of us have had with Odyssey, due to its high proportion of filler to woven cloth, I think. It doesn't seem to enjoy the cyclical diagonal loadings which happen in the throat area. This is not to say it can't be used, but to advocate load-spreading patches at throat and peak, just as you'll see in the corners of any bermudan sail.

The thread should be V69 bonded polyester. Using the same colour disguises crooked stitching, using a contrasting colour highlights it, but helps later in the sail's life, when broken stitches need to be re-done. Perhaps a compromise is to choose a thread colour just a little darker than the cloth colour.