Sumara of Weymouth

12:30 8th February 2026

Reading Time: 8 Minutes

Nerdiness Quotient: 7/10

I nonchalantly said to Peter Sanders “Don’t bother with any bags” when I placed my order for my new sails. I was thinking it would be a doddle to knock up a few bags on my Sailrite Sewing Machine. And indeed, it would be a doddle to make some naff bags, but decent sails deserve decent bags and there is more to this bag making malarky than first meets the eye.

Another reason for making my own bags is that I have had half an idea to make the Yankee and Staysail bags as covers that can be used while the sails are still hanked on. Although UV degradation in the Arctic is not a big issue, if I venture south one day(?), it would be handy to protect the sails from the sun without needing to completely take off the sails every time I moor up. I like to have sails ready to hoist when at anchor.

That said, the mainsail bag would be just that, a bag to store the mainsail when the boat is not in commission. It is also an easy bag to measure because the mainsail will always be neatly flaked for storage, so the bag needn’t be oversized to hold a sail stuffed in in a hurry. The sail will always be put away dry too, so the bag doesn’t need a mesh base.

I examined my old Ratsey bags and saw that they were rather ingeniously made from one piece of material. Intrigued, I consulted my bookshelves and blew the dust off “The Sailmaker’s Apprentice” and “Canvas and Rope Craft” for some ideas. I learned that the best seam was the “full flat felled seam”. I fired up YouTube and found various videos where they show you how to do the seam but only on small scraps of material which they just flip over to sew from the other side. I realised that isn’t going to be so easy when you are seaming inside a bag tube!

I would just have to try it and see what happens. So, I measured the circumference of the mainsail while is was neatly flaked at 1080 mm, added 100 mm for clearance and then added an extra 38 mm to cover the full flat felled seam. I want to store the sail battens in the bag and they were the tallest item, so I added 50 mm to the batten length then an extra 100 mm to cover the top hem and an extra 25 mm to cover the bottom seam.

The round base is best cut after the tube part of the bag has been sewn. That way you can get the most accurate measurement of the internal circumference. Add 25 mm to the diameter of the circular base to cover the 12.5 mm seam all round. Use mesh for sails which may get stowed away whilst wet.

Now is the best time to sew on any labels and patches before seaming up the bag. I had a scrap of darker coloured material and some pvc material for the inside to reinforce the rope handle. I then secured two Size 30 eyelets for the rope to come through. I also added a pocket for the sail battens.

Grit insisted on stencilling these lovely labels by hand even though there are various label companies who can print or embroider these things quite cheaply.

I use basting tape to position the long seam so that the upper material is 12.5 mm in from the edge. You need to sew a straight stitch 25 mm in. Then fold in the edge and fold again and run a zig zag stitch down the other side. This is where you need to carefully push the material through the machine as it bunches up around the arm of the sewing machine. As it was my first go, I thought it wouldn’t work but miraculously I got right to the end and managed to successfully extricate the material from the machine.

Now you need to turn it inside out again and pin on the base. If you want a handle on the bottom then sew on some reinforcing webbing and secure two size 30 eyelets. It is recommended to mark the circular base with quarter marks to correspond to marks on the tube. That helps to avoid a big bunching problem at the end of the circle. Instead, you have four minor bunching points to deal with. Use pins to pin on the base. You can sew right through the pins so they can be left in place while the base is sewn in.

Inside the top hem is hidden some 40 mm wide nylon webbing as reinforcement.

Once the hem is finished it is time to add the eyelets. You can use a drawcord in the hem, in which case you just need two eyelets (through the outside of the hem only) but I preferred to use a series of 10x size 27 eyelets with the 8 mm matt polyester three strand cord threaded between them.

I’m rather pleased with the result. It was a bit of a faff but it was my first attempt so any future bags should be easier.

Materials Used for the Bags (no commercial connection)
1. Sauleda Marine Grade PU Coated Acrylic Canvas from Point North Pro Fabrics
2. Various Webbing from Point North Pro Fabrics
3. Size 30 and Size 27 Brass Eyelets from Flints Theatrical Chandlers
4. Liros Classic Three Strand 8 mm and 14 mm from Flints Theatrical Chandlers
5. Sunstop polyester V92 Thread from Point North Pro Fabrics

Tools Used

1. Sailrite LZ1 Sewing Machine from Solent Sewing
2. Wad Punch for size 27 and 30 eyelets from Flints Theatrical Chandlers
3. Hand Closing Tool and dye for Size 27 and 30 eyelets from Flints Theatrical Chandlers

Information from:

1. “The Sailmakers Apprentice” by Emiliano Marino and illustrated by Christine Erikson
2. “Canvas and Ropework” by Frank Rosenow
3. A Sailrite Video
4. Another video from YouTube which I can’t seem to find anymore!

Next Up

As for my foresail bags, I have been deliberating.

What are your thoughts on these options?

Option A – A full cover which would go over the Yankee while it is still hanked on with the sheets attached. I would make another similar cover for the staysail.

For

• Sail remains ready to hoist
• Should be quite quick to put the cover on

Against

• Very tricky to measure especially not being on the boat and with stiff new sails
• The cover will not make a very good bag for when I am using the Genoa and the Yankee needs storing below

Option B – Fold Back Cover Cum Bag. I would make another similar cover/bag for the staysail.

For

• Smaller then the full version Option A
• Should serve as a bag as well

Against

• Sheets would need removing
• Also hard to measure without being on the boat

Option C – Just sailbags. These ones would have a mesh base as the sails may need stashing whilst wet.

For

• I can get on with the job now as measuring will be easier
• They will be the most compact when stowed below deck
• I can include clips for securing to the guardrail wires (while in port and needing the space below)
• I have practised on the mainsail bag

Against

• It requires the sails being removed from the stays and the sheets removed so they may not be used so much.

Any clever thoughts and ideas would be very welcome, but right now I am thinking of just making more bags. The brand new sails are very stiff and devilishly difficult to measure, even though I have made a mock up frame of the shroud. For the covers to work well they will need to be measured just right, not a struggle to fit nor a mass of excess material. Therefore my current thinking is to make some bags now, but I’ll take some old sheeting with me on the sail to Ullapool so that if I decide covers would be good I can make some templates.