VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I have a small (one inch) tear in my canopy ?? any repair ideas ?? who does best pro repairs in town ?? Will tape alone be good enough ??

Reuben

yes you can put a rip-stop tape patch on it if it's only one inch. I have many of those patches on one of my kites. I think I bought the tape from Bosun's Locker a couple of years ago.

if you just have a small hole in your kite, You can swing by and i can sew it up in 10 min. ?
my number is 250-418-5532

Thanks for the replies. Here is what I did. I bought 2 inch rip stop sail tape at west marine ($15). Cleaned the area with isopropal alcohol, rounded tape corners and applied tape about one inch longer that the tear. Then I using a #14 needle and UV resistant polyester thread in my wifes machine I sewed all around the perimeter of the patch using a zig-zag stitch that matched the factory stitching. I also doubled up on some leading edge doubler stitching that was beginning to fray. I little overkill but will not come apart for sure.

As it turns out this was not a tear but more likely worn through but chaffing on beach rocks and gravel. On my naish kite the canopy 4oZ ripstop comes over the top of the heavy duty leading edge. There is a LE seam right under the canopy where it causes a high ridge that is prone the wear when launching and landing my kite. As I am still learing there has been a lot of time with the kite on the beach. Love the quality of the kite but a little heavier material for the few inches after the leading edge would have solved this problem. I think some manufacturers have corrected this, This kite is a 2004 and many improvements have been made in the last 5 years.

Lesson learned, do not let your kite rub on anything solid if you can avoid it. Even beach sand and gravel will eventually wear things out.


Reuben
still learning and stoked!!

Yes the lauching on the rocks and barnicles puts holes in the ripstop. I have hauled a carpet to my repeat beach launch site that lasted for a few weeks before it disappered. This will do the trick if the kite can stay there for the launch.
Nice thing you have access to a machine with a zig-zag stich.