Sail Cover

Completed 12/04/2014

The original Sunbrella sail cover that came with my boat was getting old. Every time I touched it the fabric would tear. The threads were worn out and failing. The water would soak into the fabric. The color was faded. In short, I needed a new sail cover.Luckily my old sail cover still provided a great pattern to work from. If you don’t have a cover to copy, check around the ‘net or marinas for the best way to obtain measurements. I don’t have any experience in starting from scratch.

There are options in fabric out there, but in my research everyone seemed to recommend Sunbrella. The similar fabrics you get for half the price seemed like a good deal, but some folks noted a much shorter lifetime while others were very pleased with the life. I just went with Sunbrella Pacific Blue, the standard for marine fabrics. Don’t get the polyurethane-lined fabric (Sunbrella Plus) or a wet sail won’t be able to breathe and dry when covered. I also used some vinyl material to protect the high-wear area at the aft end.

1. Choose the material.
   1. I chose Sunbrella Marine Fabric, 60″ wide, 6001 – Pacific Blue for $18.75 per yard at www.sailmakerssupply.com for it’s UV protection, long life, strength, water beading properties, and breathability.
   2. I chose Vinyl Laminate, 60″ wide, 21103 – Blue for $8.82 per yard for reinforcing the attach points.
   3. I chose Common Sense Turnbutton Fasteners for $2.24 each to fasten the bottom and end of the cover.
   4. And to stitch it all together, I used my trusty Singer Featherweight sewing machine with polyester UV protective V-92 thread and a Schmetz brand number 18 needle.
2. Determine any changes you’d like to make to your current cover’s shape.
   1. My old sail cover was baggy in places and tight in places. So with the cover in place around the boom I went down the sail with a black sharpie.
   2. Every 3 feet or so I would note how many inches I should add or remove to that section and wrote it directly onto the cover.
   3. Closer to the mast I made notes every foot or so to keep up with the more extreme changes in size with horizontal distance.
   4. I ended up adding 7 inches near the mast. It was always so hard to buckle connections without someone bear-hugging the sail to scrunch it down. Why not make that section bigger in the new sail cover?
   5. Near the end of the boom, I took out about 3 inches of vertical material. It was always loose and ugly looking before, so that should clean it up some.
   6. The horizontal length from mast to boom was perfect, so I left it with no changes.
   7. Note any frayed edges. If it looks like the edge would be better hemmed, note it so you can leave enough extra fabric when tracing and cutting.
3. Disassemble the old cover.
   1. Note: If you have the visual memory of a canary like I do, be sure to take pictures as you disassemble. Those photos are worth their weight in gold when reassembling if you forgot how the fabric was folded, stitched and ordered.
   2. A pen-sized thread-cutting tool can be used to quickly remove all the threads and separate the fabric.
   3. As you go, use the sharpie to note where the fabric edge was hemmed or not. That will be helpful when cutting the new fabric.
   4. My cover was mostly Sunbrella with reinforcing at the aft end where it wraps around the end of the boom. Note where the reinforcing material could be lengthened, shortened or improved in any way. I shortened mine a foot or so to save on useless bulk.
   5. Make sure you unfold all of the hems before you trace the old pieces onto the new fabric.
4. Trace the old cover onto the new fabric and cut.
   1. Lay out the new fabric (I just rolled it out onto the dock, weighting down the corners) and find an efficient way to lay out the old pieces on top.
   2. With the sharpie, make a dot on the new fabric next to each mark you previously made on the old fabric. Don’t forget to add or subtract the adjustments when dotting the new fabric.
   3. Now when you remove the pattern you will see the dotted outline. I eye-balled in a few more dots to make the lines smooth, and finally free-handed the lines in connecting the dots. I find this method easier than tracing the old fabric, especially with the adjustments thrown in.
   4. Trace and cut one piece at a time so you can make more symmetrical pieces.
   5. Once one half is cut, use that as a pattern for the other side.
   6. Cut out the vinyl pieces.
5. Sew the pieces together.
   1. I’m assuming you know how to use your sewing machine, including set-up, lubrication and basic techniques for starting and finishing a line.
   2. A stapler is the best tool to have at this point. It’s a quick and easy way to keep the fabric in place before sewing.
   3. For hemming, see Don Casey’s sailboat maintenance book or his canvas work book. It describes in clear detail how to fold, score, and sew a hem. I folded about a quarter inch, scored it with the handle of my scissors and stapled it, then folded another 2 inches, stapled and scored, sewed it down, and finally removed the staples.
   4. When sewing the hem, I sewed two lines of straight stitch.
      1. One eighth inch from the outer edge.
      2. 1.8 inches from the edge to hold down the two inch hem.
   5. When sewing the vinyl layer to the Sunbrella, I simply folded and scored about a half inch of Sunbrella over the vinyl and sewed a single line, effectively sandwiching the vinyl inside the hem. I also stitched a single line around the edge of the vinyl to attach it to the Sunbrella.
   6. Again, it’s easiest to copy the techniques the old cover used so the pattern fits, minimizing confusing changes.
   7. After hemming, sew the two halves together.
      1. Line up the two halves so they are perfectly aligned with the inside faces of the cover on the outside.
      2. Sew one line of stitching about one eighth of an inch from the edge.
      3. When unfolding the two halves, ensure everything looks right. I mistakenly sewed too far the first time and it wouldn’t unfold. Easy fix, though. I just snipped the extra stitching with the thread knife and refinished the end of the stitches so they wouldn’t unravel.
   8. Finally, add the hardware.
      1. The turnbuttons from Sailmaker’s Supply comes with instructions. They show two methods, one with a punch and one with a knife. I bought the punch and found it to be slow, cumbersome and useless. The knife method works quickly with good results.
      2. First mark where the buttons should go using a tape measure and a marker. Mine were spaced at around four foot increments, but I just copied what my old cover did.
      3. Next cut the holes for the turnbuttons.
         1. I highly suggest inserting your first turnbutton on a scrap piece of fabric to test your technique and hole size before cutting into the real thing.
         2. I cut a square slightly smaller than the hole required. (Squares are way easier to cut than circles. Duh.)
         3. Then use a lighter to burn the inside of the hole until it is big enough to fit the turnbutton. The square magically turns into a circle as it burns.
      4. Cut the four slits for the metal tabs to fit through.
         1. Hold the turnbutton in place over the hole and mark where the four sides touch the fabric with a marker.
         2. Cut the slits exactly where the tabs touched. The closer the slits fit the tabs, the easier your job will be.
      5. Attach the turnbuttons to the fabric
         1. Slide the turnbuttons’ tabs into the slits and hold the turnbutton tight against the fabric.
         2. Use a tool (I used a crescent wrench) to fold the tabs over as tight as possible.