Alteration of Etchels jib for tiki-21 mainsail

[Guy Forrester]

Hey all,

Im playing around with some ideas for getting around having to buy a new mainsail for my tiki-21.

The idea of altering a second hand Etchels jib was suggested, they are very common and easy to get your hands on a good quality second for around the $100 mark. Sleeve would then be added out of sailcloth and head cut down and altered to suit. 

Foot is slightly shorter than standard tiki wingsail, but short leech batterns in the Etchels jib would help compensate for lost area.

Have drawn it to scale to show what I am thinking:

Just an idea being thrown around, so any thoughts would be appreciated.

Guy

[kim whitmyre]

Guy, talk to Roger Sullivan on this board to see the cost of a Rolly Tasker wingsail...It might surprise you!

[Galway Bay]

I have used second-hand sails and had good results. I have also sewn some sails as new and while this works it is surprisingly expensive for what you get and I would not recommend it.
I may not be reading your sketch right but it looks like the leech of the jib will end up as the luff of the main. If so it will not work. The cloth is cut on the bias at the luff to stretch into the belly of the sail while the leech is cut to avoid stretch. You will have to keep the luff as the luff etc. So I think you will have three jobs to do -
1.Cut the head and make pocket for gaff
2.Lift the clew/shorten the leech at the foot
3.make luff pocket for mast
Could be done but is it more trouble than it is worth?
Used sails offer a lot of cloth for very little money. They can be altered and should be a good resource for those who like to experiment with rigs - crab claw, lug etc..
Decide what exactly you want to achieve here. If you just want to go sailing at the minimum expense then there are plenty of rigs that could be got cheaply and would work. If however you want the Wharram rig I think you should stretch a little and buy the sails.

[kim whitmyre]

In addition, the wingsail must be dead flat. No camber built in, or you will forever have a baggy sail!

[Guy Forrester]

Thanks for the help guys, decided to stop being tight and just order a new sail from Rolly Tasker!