Making a mast cover

For standard mainsails, boom covers are essential and relatively easy to find readymade, or to make. But it’s a different story for in-mast furling rigs, which don’t need the boom protecting, instead the more awkward bit of the mast just above and below the boom.

Each year we’d struggle to cover the mainsail tail, halyards, cleats and rope clamps with, which we keep in Greece. This is in an effort to minimise the damage from the late-summer sun as well as the winds and rain of the winter months. We have up to now used sheets of plastic and canvas, tied with ropes, wound around the mast and prayed that the winter winds don’t loosen the rope tension allowing the coverings to slip off. There’s also the risk of having to climb onto the boom and stretch up the mast to start tying everything in place.