After the success with my first try at sewing up an asymmetrical spinnaker for the Prairie Mermaid, I thought it would be fun to give sail-making another go. The cat ketch rig on the Mana presents a possibility that intrigued me the first time I saw photos of a similar rig sporting a mizzen staysail. Once again I went to the good folks at SailRite for their assistance. Sailmaker Jeff Frank came back with a mizzen staysail custom designed for the Mana 24.

After fall had turned into winter, I again took over a large part of the basement and set to sewing up the kit.

SailRite provides excellent instructions with their sail kits. In addition, they are a phone call away to answer questions and I took advantage of the service to get some clarification from Jeff on one issue that arose.

Sewing up the panels is quite straight forward. A double zig zag stitch is used and soon the sail has been produced. The detailing requires hand stitching. Clearly drawn diagrams make it easy for a rookie sail-maker like me to end up with a professional looking product.

Clew with D-ring sewn in
Thimbles are sliced onto each end of the bolt rope – first time for splicing 3 stranded rope for me – great fun.
Tack with boltrope and thimble sewn into place
Close-up
Leather protection added to the three corners of the sail
The SailRite logo

The project was soon completed. The sail (and sailor) wait until sailing season for the first trial. Stay tuned.