Wharram Builders and Friends

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The new mainsail cover!

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Comment by Randall S Anselmo on November 13, 2010 at 10:10am
Hey Kim,

Your sail covers look great! I would love to make some like that. Do you have any plans/measurements? Also, that looks like a dodger frame under the sail. Do you know what the clearance is under the sail? I'd like to make some shelter there too.

All my canvas,
Randy
Comment by paul anderson on November 13, 2010 at 12:57pm
nice
Comment by kim whitmyre on November 13, 2010 at 3:03pm
Hi Randy,

I had a local marine canvas shop make the mainsail cover, but here's what I learned by watching him take the measurements. First of all, I use 4 sail ties to bind up the sail, and the maker said to get the sail tied with those ties into the basic "shape" so he could then take the measurements. He measured from the front of the mast to the rear of the tied sail for the horizontal length, took 3 measurements for circumference (near the mast, middle, and near the end), and then took the vertical measurement at the front of the mast, adding about a foot to the top for the wrap-around piece that laces to the mast. That is the basic measure. Then, as you can see in the photo, he measured from the mast to the peak halyard on the gaff to place the opening and side cut that allows me to place the cover over the sail. It is open on the bottom and the foreside of the mast, closure being done by the use of twist-lock fasteners placed about 8" or so apart. I could have gotten it a bit smaller, but it is now nice and easy to protect the sail at the end of the day: no huffing or puffing! I got the foresail bag from an online shop, and with the new jib cloth, I have to really stuff the sail into the bag, which is made easier by releasing the top three hanks. With the jib, you should measure the length of the compressed sail at the forestay so that the bag is big enough. My foresail bag works fine, but it would be easier if the bag was a bit longer at the forestay.

Here's a shot of the mainsail at full hoist, with the dodger folded up under it:

Comment by kim whitmyre on November 13, 2010 at 3:10pm
BTW, I should say that the free area under the bottom of the main will vary depending on where your seating is relative to the mast base. As can be seen above, my seating is below the surface of the beams.
Comment by Randall S Anselmo on November 14, 2010 at 7:05pm
Thanks Kim!

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