Jib Sock

[Davo]

Sewed up a jib sock this past week, figured I'd share my project...anyways, I have a CDI FF2 and the sail did not come with a sacrificial UV strip but since my 23 is cutter rigged with a smaller, high-clewed jib I think adding a sunbrella strip would bog it down too much.  As luck would have it, I had exactly 2 yards of blue sunbrella fabric sitting around from an earlier idea that never materialized, so I cut it into 4 equal width strips of 11.5" x 2 yards long (the roll I ordered from at sailrite was 46" wide) and got to sewing.  I sewed the long edges over on each side about 1/4" or less, then connected each end to the other, and then, since I didn't have zippers handy and needed a cover ASAP, I installed grommets at every 2 feet to be able to put sail bungees through to keep it mostly closed.

Using the spare jib halyard since I have the FF2, I attached the shackle to the top two grommets and started lifting the sock up, putting the sail bungees on each set of grommets as it went up.  This took only about 5 minutes but really kills the shoulders putting the bungees on every time having to reach above the jib sheets with such a high clew.  I ordered two 120" lengths of white zipper off of amazon and those just came in so I sewed the zippers up last night and am excited to get the sock back on using the zippers instead.

After folding each end over about 1.5-2" and sewing overlaps between each strip the total sock length ended up around 23.25 feet give or take, which ended up the perfect length to cover the sail and sit right above the furling drum.  



Now, my sewing isn't the cleanest but I would say that this was a pretty easy project.  I'll break the cost down:

Sunbrella fabric from Sailrite (2 yards of 46" wide)       $30.50            (I would suggest a 60" roll which totals $36.50, the 46" barely works for my smaller jib
Two 120" YKK white plastic zippers from Amazon          $15.90
Two rolls of heavy duty thread                                    $6 ish
Grommets, only 2 sets needed for top and bottom        $free               (I had extras, but you can get a pack of 10 sets from $5 to $10)

Total                                                                        $52.40

In all I spent maybe 4 hours sewing it all together, although at least one of those hours was all of the time I was fixing jams or re-sewing areas I got a bad run on or re-threading the bobbin and changing needles, etc.

I'll get a pic of the sock in place with the zippers up soon.

My thoughts after finishing the project are that paying $150-$200 for a jib sock to be made for you really isn't that bad of a deal if you don't sew, but for a DIY guy with a machine it really is a good project to take on.

[capt_nemo]

Davo,

You are indeed a kindred DIY Sewing Machine Spirit. Nice job on the Jib Sock.

I've made 7 sails for my two trailerable sailboats and enjoy working on my sewing machine. Recent seatrials of a large Orange Polytarp Drifter and a Tan Polytarp Working Jib for my Sun Cat were very successful, which makes all the work involved even more rewarding!

Happy Sewing & Sailing!

capt_nemo

[Tim Gardner]

Really like your jib sock.  I may finally do both your furler and jib sock projects on my 19.  I might try making a spinnaker sock as well.  You have inspired me.

I can hear the Admiral now: "What? Another sailboat project?"

TG

[Davo]

Here's a shot with it up, for some reason with the zippers added the sock has a tendency to twist as it is raised, it doesn't catch or snag, and in fact works better than I had imagined since the twisting as it goes up keeps it from loosely flapping about on windy days when I'm sailing with the inner head sail and not the furler, go figure, couldn't have planned that one better , (well, I could have planned the color matching better between the sock and main cover, ha!)