Desired panel overlap. Note 40% marks as well as 1/2" overlap marks.
Five Panels "Dry" Assembled
Lowest panel positioned on camber board. Panel placed on camber board,overlapping joint by 1/2", and 40% mark aligned.
Camber Board - reverse side.
Second Panel being positioned. Second panel overlaps preceeding one, 40% mark aligned.
Seam ready for seam tape. Both panels are fixed in position using low tack masking tape. The upper panel is rolled back to expose the seam area on the lower panel.
Seam tape positioned. The seam tape is centered on the 1/2" overlap area, and vigoriously pressed down.
Seam tape carrier being removed. Once the carrier is removed, only adhesive remains on the lower panel. Starting at the center of the seam, the upper panel is carefully "rolled" into position, and pressed down,
Panels assembled, ready to sew seams
Preparing the panels for sewing. Starting at the sail head, seamed panels are rolled on a cardbord tube to prepare for sewing.
Ready to sew the lowest seam. A zig-zag stich is used, about 1/4" wide, and long. Stitches are sewn through adhesive. We no longer sew the seams, tape does the job. Sewing or not is left up to the maker.
Positioning the oversized sail blank to cut the luff. The head and tack have been positioned with low-tack tape, and the clew is raised bout 14 inches to create an appropriate sail shape.
A long batten used to guide the luff cut, positioned to intersect the head and tack, and to create the desired luff allowance.
An X-Acto knife is used against the batten to complete the cut.
Preparing to cut the leach. Per specifications, a batten is positioned and held with clamps and push-sticks to guide the leach cut.
Leach cut complete. Small uncut sections remain where push-sticks were positioned.
Preparing to cut the foot. A lighter batten is positioned per specification using clamps and a long push-stick.
Foot cut complete.
Ready for sail slides and graphics. Corner reinforcements and grommets have been placed using 1-1/2 oz. sticky-back dacron and #0 (wide) nylon washers.