Doing a dodgy nip & tuck on a very very blown out 5.5m 2021 Slick.
Have read thru the threads on here re trying to tighten up old wing canopies, and unpicked the middle leech-to-leading edge seam. Lateral seam work is def in the too-hard basket for this.
Before I put temp tape tabs on the panels and inflate to see how the revised tension looks - and embark on lots of inflate-and-delate trial & error - can anyone provide input on best angle to start with? Starting with 10cm overlap at the leech, I'm guessing the sweet spot will be somewhere between a straight tapered dart down to 0 cm at the leading edge, and a full length 10cm seam take-in. Anyone got any cheat notes? thanks!!!

I've looked at my bagged out wing many times and wondered if this was a solution. Would be keen to see how you go with it, photos would be awesome!

I've done this before and it does buy some life in an old wing but I wouldn't do it again.

It's not a total game changer. It doesn't get you back to day 1 I mostly noticed some better upwind. For me the tightness of the front 1/3 of the canopy is what matters most for handling and that part doesnt blow out

It looks bad - you're better off selling it as is and investing in a new new wing than trying to explain it to a buyer. But then again I buy cheap cheap wings so I don't have a ton invested to begin with.

I have also done this , tightening the leading edge by just overlapping then sewing the ripstop about 5 cm by side . It looks good and seemed to work ( note i wrote "seemed" ) . It was done on 6m fone swing , 4m and 6m gong plus over a few years . I took out the 6m swing still looking good in a decent wind a week ago and could not get up on foil , came back to the beach switched for a gong 5.5 neutra and had a great ride ! Same wind .
With more wind it would of worked ( of course l have already ridden all the retightend wings ) but more wind is needed and the center of thrust is not in the same place , much more front hand than before . I've realy tried over a few years but it is no way as good as a good second hand or new wing .
Of course this is only my personnel experience. .

thanks for the feedback!

specifically re taking in leech-to-leading edge seam on 5.5 wing - how much slack to take up - 10cm at leech good place to start? - and what taper recommended? take the whole seam in 10 cm? or an angled dart 10cm at leech to 0 cm at leading edge? 5 cm at leading edge? any advice, experience on this?

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flowstate said..
thanks for the feedback!

specifically re taking in leech-to-leading edge seam on 5.5 wing - how much slack to take up - 10cm at leech good place to start? - and what taper recommended? take the whole seam in 10 cm? or an angled dart 10cm at leech to 0 cm at leading edge? 5 cm at leading edge? any advice, experience on this?

On mine a tried to make a nice seam like that work for the take up but doing so would have made a big ugly wrinkle. It wanted a big diagonal seam from the tip of the strut to turn of the leading edge. I inflated and used little pieces of tape to make a z fold that resulted in a smooth tight canopy. Then I taped the opposite side, removed the pieces and taped the first side then sewed the tape down. Definitely a quick and dirty.

I made a mistake ! I meant trailing edge ( l am french and do not use a translation aid ) .
Could you tell me what the leech is ? Thanks.

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Waterkooled said..
I made a mistake ! I meant trailing edge ( l am french and do not use a translation aid ) .
Could you tell me what the leech is ? Thanks.

leech = trailing edge.
luff = leading edge

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TooMuchEpoxy said..

flowstate said..
thanks for the feedback!

specifically re taking in leech-to-leading edge seam on 5.5 wing - how much slack to take up - 10cm at leech good place to start? - and what taper recommended? take the whole seam in 10 cm? or an angled dart 10cm at leech to 0 cm at leading edge? 5 cm at leading edge? any advice, experience on this?

On mine a tried to make a nice seam like that work for the take up but doing so would have made a big ugly wrinkle. It wanted a big diagonal seam from the tip of the strut to turn of the leading edge. I inflated and used little pieces of tape to make a z fold that resulted in a smooth tight canopy. Then I taped the opposite side, removed the pieces and taped the first side then sewed the tape down. Definitely a quick and dirty.

muchas gracias senor !

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TooMuchEpoxy said..

mine a tried to make a nice seam like that work for the take up but doing so would have made a big ugly wrinkle. It wanted a big diagonal seam from the tip of the strut to turn of the leading edge. I inflated and used little pieces of tape to make a z fold that resulted in a smooth tight canopy. Then I taped the opposite side, removed the pieces and taped the first side then sewed the tape down. Definitely a quick and dirty.

i like quick and dirty! and wind fcst for tomoz!
....so you didnt use seams at all - just folded & temp taped a staggered fold of canopy material where required for optimum shape/tautness, then taped both sides and stitched?
Inflated to full pressure to fold/tape, then deflate for tape and stitch?
will be hand saddle stitch only, dont have machine, but assume it's the spinnaker tape doing the holding work anyway

I think it was inflated for the full tape and I just did it on my mom's singer. You can 100% find a basic sewing machine in your life somewhere.

getting a bit off-track, but sitting here playing with how much and what angle take-in on this old baggy canopy, pondering if Dave Ezzy's adjustable trailing edge tension strap idea might provide a quick and dirty way of adding some improvement to a slightly bagged-out wing canopy Or if , if like a leech line on conventional sails, it reduces leech flutter but doesnt fix the centre of effort shifting all over the place, which is the major issue with this old wing that's been out in too much wind and seen too many over-the-handlebars.

I think it's a worthwhile idea. Flutter creates damage which bags out the sail and creates more flutter. More battens are also a no-brainer. Id love to even have full battens