I have been thinking about all the Bermudan sails I have had experience with, and which are subject to much higher loads than a junk sail. They have all had tabling made from the same fabric as the sail. Regardless, what we are after is something that works and has good longevity. And for me, if I am going to go to the effort and expense of building any sail, and it is in New Zealand, then the sail is going to have a sail cover to protect it from our harsh UV exposure.

There is webbing, (seat belt webbing), in the high load areas of the sail on Footprints but this webbing is very localised. But the whole length of the leech and luff have sail cloth tabling and have so far shown no signs of failure. The yard and boom areas on the Footprints sail are a bit different than the norm in that both yard and boom sit in sleeves built into the sail.

Regardless, it sounds as if Fantail has a new sail and I am sure you will be looking forward with excitement to fitting and using the sail.

Scott Dufour wrote:

Arne Kverneland wrote:

Gentlemen, you have convinced me that correctly fitted tablings take the loads around the sail’s edges well. Several Davids cannot be wrong.

 

 

Arne,

If you were making a new a sail, does this mean that you'd not use tape at all?  Are there any areas you'd still insist be reinforced with seatbelt material?

I don't insist anything, Scott. The reason that I will still use webbing is that it comes on big rolls with the weave already in the right direction and with frail-free edges (= no need for hot-knives or wrapping), and I need them anyway to make the hoops for the battens to rest in. The combination of easy fitting and trouble-free service  of the webbing type boltrope still makes the choice simple to me.

Arne

PS: If I had plenty of sailcloth, but were struggling with finding useful webbing, then I would make and fit the needed tabling and use that to strengthen the edges  -  or I may rather fit a rope-type bolt-rope, as I used on Malena's first cambered panel sail (1994). That sounds like a slow method, but it isn't (see Chapter 5 of TCPJR).

  

Gentlemen, you have convinced me that correctly fitted tablings take the loads around the sail’s edges well. Several Davids cannot be wrong.

However, when I read that sewing a tape (or webbing) on is not as easy as (cutting, wrapping and) sewing on the tabling, then I raise an eyebrow:

I have sewn on ‘miles’ of webbing to serve as a boltrope, and to me this is by far the easiest job in the whole sailmaking process. The webbing I have been using on the last three sails, is a 2” wide polyester webbing, known as seatbelt webbing. This is indeed very easy to sew in, and my sewing machine doesn’t stall even with three layers of it, plus a couple of layers of sail cloth. This polyester webbing withstands the forces very well without stretching, unlike the nylon webbing I used on Johanna’s sail. After three seasons (2006), I beefed up the leech of Johanna’s sail by hand-stitching an old rope (halyard) to the backside of it. That sail is still operational.

Arne

PS: I once received a roll of 10cm wide tabling strips(tape) from the local sailmaker, meant to be wrapped over the edges of the sail, and then sewn on. This was of hard, stiff sailcloth and my sewing machine struggled with hammering its way through it. The seatbelt webbing I now use is not at all like that.

Based on the current longevity of the sail on Footprints I agree with David Tyler. Why introduce a different type of fabric which has different characteristics than the fabric the sail is made from. The sailcloth tabling on the Footprints sail was easy to do and has stood up to the test of time and use very well. My experience of sewing on tape is that it is not nearly as easy to sew as is the sailcloth, (or in your case the Clipper Canvas). In fact most of my sewing frustrations come from trying to sew tapes of various sorts.

looking forward to seeing Fantail dressed in her new sail. 

Bryan Tuffnell wrote:If the luff and leach are taped in their entirety, is tabling also necessary?

I would turn it around, Bryan, and say that if tabling is done properly, as sailmakers do it, with thread lines parallel to the leech, then taping is entirely unnecessary.