Dirk, I guess the germans re-did the broadseaming and luff curve in the top of their sail as well as adding cloth to the leech. No big deal for them, as they have sailmakers on their project and accurate computer models + plotters/cutters. It's a different ballgame to do it at home, based on measurements and guesswork


Without re-doing the head area (as Wouter describes) the results will probably be dysmal. The profile/draft will not be in the right place, and the extra cloth will probably just add drag and possibly a hooking leech. The idea behind the extra-square tops is to add more power in the top and you need to adjust draft to accomplish this. I still think it would be easier to just cut off the top meter, meter and a half or more, and put on a new top. Much easier than fiddling with manually re-cutting radial panels. But this is something that demands a powerful sewing machine where you can adjust thread tension to a very high setting (i.e. industrial machine, if you dont want to try superbonding, but thats out of scope here).

Perhaps Marcus or Phill have some creative ideas..