Making a polytarp sail. Easy homemade sailmaking for small boats.

[@kelpshake650]

So far the best tarp sailmaking video

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@LightAndSportyGuy]

Interesting. Thank you.

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Thanks!

[@arthurybrenin3878]

Only built one them sail so far. Hot tip; run the stuff through the washing machine 4 times. Gentle cycle, no detergent! Transforms the materials behaviour for the better.✌

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Haven't got my hands on some Tyvek yet but will try this if I do.Thanks for the tip 👍

[@romandybala]

Good job. All the x,y, zs and trig. put me back in school where I slept during maths class for 4 years. I made two sails out of waxed cotton like Drizabone material. Fairly heavy stuff for my 21ft and 20ft masts which are lego' mutton with sprits to push out the clew. This is on a 19x5ft Ohio Sharpie skiff.She's got a flat bottom and draws 4 in with the board up. I was worried that I made the sails a bit flat so I added a tiny bit more roach on the leach and the luff and the foot . The boat sails like a little witch but the cotton sails have bagged like nanna's old boggers.Could have sewed them with straight lines all round and they would have gotten a good little belly in them after a few sails. Unless you are sailing up near 30 deg into the wind , especially with your cute little rowboat conversion, you can pretty much make them out of anything. In the islands they use rice bags . They look shit but they sail like racers around those islands.

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Thanks for your comments. It's interesting to hear about the different materials that people attempt to use. Dryzabone is a new one on me. There's a bunch of people that use Tyvek aswell. I would try that but its imposible to find in small quantities and without Tyvek written all over it. Maths wasn't my thing either haha.

[@dominictarrsailing]

Interesting technique! I will ve very interested in seeing it sailing and how the sail holds up without stitching. My hunch (from making polytarp sails myself) is that the taped panel seams will be a hard point so youll get ribs in the sail there, because the tarp is quite stretchy. But, im sure it will still be a satisfying boat to sail!

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Thanks for your comment. I'll be testing this sail soon (after one other video) and will give a full report of its performance and updates on its durability. I am intending to get a real sail made but until then I will use this one until it fails, as an experiment. Will keep track of hours used, any deterioration, stuff like that and post the findings. I have used this non stich method on a smaller scale before and have had good success and it held together well. Taping and stiching together is always a pain because the needle gums up, so I decided that stitching wasn't worth it and went to a stronger tape that holds very well. Yes, I know what you mean about tarp stretching. I keep the weave parallel to the highest directions of tension, but it still does. I guess, it's just a draw back of using tarp. I have found that the tape and tarp stretch together fairly evenly though so far and haven't had bad issues with that.

[@Sp3ktral22]

Fantastic. I'm subscribing

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Thankyou. Welcome aboard! ⛵️

[@emelinerid]

This is such an amazing work Trevor. .. It's a dream come true❤ and with classical music, it makes it even better 😊❗🎶 well done on everything...and now I can say I am able to make a boat😂🎉😅. Bisou

[@emelinerid]

May the T-Rex force be with you

[@TrevC-co6xk]

All you have to do is find an old boat, give it a bit of a fix up, make some tarp sails for it in a jiffy and then sail south for the winter. Don't forget to use plenty of 🦖🦖🦖tape and don't forget to visit me when you get there. Thankyou Emeline! 🫡

[@robertogarcia5669]

Hi i'm building a 16' sailboat off my design and and i-m very interested in a simple way of lateral resistance . Your bilge kieels might be it. Looking f.w.d to see the results in your next video. Thank'you Roberto from US

[@TrevC-co6xk]

Hi Roberto, That's great to hear. I have been busy finishing off the inside of the boat ( video coming of that) and am hoping to begin some trials soon.. It will be a few weeks before I can produce a sailing video. I will try to get some data using GPS of her actual course sailing upwind, COG. I am a bit nervous about it as you can imagine. I guess I can explore other options if it doesn't work. Anyway, I will post my findings and hopefully it will be useful to you with your endevour.

[@arthurybrenin3878]

Tyvek.🤔 bloody spell check