home repair of main

Owner of 16 for sale said the main has torn along the seam between the bottom panels.

No sailmakers anywhere NEAR here ... so I'm wondering if I could get an upholstery shop to stitch the panels back together. The main from my old 14 is put together with zig-zag stitches, are the 16s the same way?

What kind of thread should be used? Should I put sail repair tape along the seam before sewing? (I do have some of that tape)

Much obliged.

Personally I wouldn't mess with trying to let anyone besides a sail maker/repair center fool with it. Sails need a very specific shape and it would be easy to miss shape the sail by sewing it wrong. There are lots of places you can send you sail to have it correctly repaired. I live in western Canada and send my sails all the way to the west coast to North Sales to have them repaired when necessary. UPS can handle it for a reasonable fee.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.