I’ve been working away on our new stack pack that Banks Sails drew out for me, and I (think) I am nearing completion. Although Trent at Banks gave me a good walk through when I picked up the fabric, I am mostly relying on the Sailrite videos, as I have a terrible memory and really need a visual.

The bulk of the pack is basically just two trapezoids with a rectangle on the end to go around the mast.

One of the features the guys at Banks added that would not be included in a Sailrite kit were these neoprene patches that protect from chafing in the high wear areas.

I put them on with spray adhesive, and I used way too much.  As you can see I made a mess, and I also caused staining on the fabric. Lesson learned. Thankfully I only messed up one side.

It doesn’t look as bad in real life as it does in the picture, but I’m still not happy about it.  We will have to work out a solution once it’s finished.

Another mistake I made was to sew two identical sides the first time round.  Fred then forced me to take a few deep breathes, rip out the whole second half and start again.  5 extra hours added to the project.

Here is my current product, it’s not quite finished.  It still needs loops for the lazy jacks, grommets for the sail slugs to attach it at the bottom, zippers to attach the rectangle mast portion, and then a hem up the aft edge once it is measured to the correct length.  That seems like a lot actually now that I type it, but I am excited to get it done.

We did a preliminary test fitting last weekend just to make sure everything was good. It’s going to be much larger than our current sail cover, but hopefully it will make life much easier as well.