Sail repair rules

[Arvin S.]

I was just wondering, I have a small tear on my A rig Main and would like to patch it up with either cellphane tape or maybe even sticky back dacron. The tear is just about 2mm wide, and so it will take only a small piece of tape to patch it up.

Thing is I do not know if this can be considered a rule violation, coz it might be considered illegal sail reinforcement. It is right in the middle of the bottom pannel a bit near the leech.

If this is illegal, does this mean we throw away our sails if there is a tear? or just keep sailing with the tear unrepaired?

Would appreciate insights on relevant rules, etc.

Thanks!
Arvin

[edmorales]

arvin,
the no.2 suit that i got from sailsetc has some transparent tape on the leach.the material seems to be cello tape. i guess the cello tape material is class legal but i am not sure about the legality when it comes to the position of the tear on your sail.why dont you take a digital pic and post it here for consultation?.time to consult the chairman
ed

[soeren_andresen]

Hi Arvin

Should not be a problem (and hope not), have a look at C 8.1 in the class rules, it clearly speaks of tears in the sails.

[Chairman]

As far as I can tell from the class rules, repairing any part of the boat is permitted. In the case of a sail, if a repair introduces some reinforcement, it seems to me that this is (explicitly) permitted, as Soeren says. I suppose that a measurer would expect the repair and consequent reinforcement to be no more and no greater than required for the job, but this isn't actually stated as a rule.

From time to time I joke with sailors around the pond that I wish my spreaders would hurry up and make a tear in my mainsail, so I can put some reinforcement there. The class rules are very strict on what is permitted on a (new) sail, and yet curiously lax about what is permitted by way of repair... Perhaps it is time to review this aspect of the rules.