mustoskiff.com

Hey ya,

Just wondered if anyone had much success re-coating their kite and if so, what with?

Did a quick search on the forum and saw a post from Paul M mentioning something about fablon??

Cheers,
Andy

I've heard of people using Nikwax
http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/pr ... abricid=-1

No doubt someone will tell me this is a serious no-no.
I haven't tried it myself but i've seen it used on an old kite and it seemed to bring a bit of life back in to it.

Fablon is a re-waterproofer.

I believe it can be bought from good outdoor shops.

Is it not called Fabsil

Had good sucess with Fabsil 2007- 2008, put lots of coats on from an upwind position, sprayed it on with a pump system " not a very fine spray" with a mask on and allowed to dry, five coats per tin. worked well except for the change in shape of the kite, its still in my shute in the RS700 today and still going.
Fabsil worked so well that if you try the water wash in product after you end up with white spots on your sail that wash off
I think Fabil changed the structure of the material as the kite had changed shape after treatment, the wax product did not change the shape of the kite? viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1218&p=12901#p12901

Just to add, anyone trying to master the MPS sailing with an old kite just make it so much harder to sail than a good shaped new kite. A very old kite also slows the boat down if you try and keep up with some with a new kite on.

Chris

Oh yeah

Ah Fabsil... that makes a bit more sense! Googled Fablon and it was coming up with a load of flooring products! Thought I was missing something!

How badly did the Fabsil distrort that shape of the kite Chris?

Cheers,
Andy

I think Ian Renilson managed 4th in the worlds with a fabsiled kite, I wouldn't worry about it.

Having a slippery kite makes boat handling and capsize recovery with the kite up MUCH easier.

Fair enough!

Guess I know what I'll be trying to do on Satruday ahead of sailing on Sunday if poss!

Cheers everyone!
Andy

I agree with Rick gust go for it, Fabsil is a great product that works well, not sure about the sail shape as 6 years ago now, just know it was three times better to use after and as it comes up dry every time, it was much better than a wet kite that sticks all over the place.

Chris

I'm not convinced an old kite is any slower than a new one in a straight line; but for manourvers a slippery kite is much easier.

The irony is that a new kite would reward a newbie learning but almost always people will use their worst kite for their early training and save the best one for regattas.

Andy

Don't use the misses washing machine though

Mother in laws it is then!

There is a very good product called Holmenkol seal and glide which you should be able to get from a good chandlers which you mix with water in a bucket and then coat both sides of the spin using a sponge and the leave to dry. This both seals and puts a silicone coating back on the spin. It costs about £34 for a pack which sould do two caots on a musto kite. If you live anywhere near portsmouth you could also contact TipTop sail Laundry who offer a recoating service but I dont know the cost. Hope this helps. I have used it and it stays good for about half a season using the sail most weekends.

Holmenkol definitely made a difference for me - but a word of warning: You can't stick adhesive patches on the kite after you've coated it. They won't even stick well enough to locate so you can sew them down. If you already have sticky patches on your kite, it will dissolve the adhesive. Two days before the nationals was definitely not the best time for me to discover this with my only kite!