I’m looking for a half hide or so of white or gray chrome tanned soft leather of the sort used by sailmakers for chafe patches and the like. Want it for various projects including replacing the molded rubber spreader boots with something tougher and more traditional. I think Sailrite may carry it but wonder if there are other recommendable sources so I can do some comparison shopping. We’re looking forward to launching Itchen next week and noticed that the old spreader boots are looking somewhat the worse for wear.
I’m looking for a half hide or so of white or gray chrome tanned soft leather of the sort used by sailmakers for chafe patches and the like. Want it for various projects including replacing the molded rubber spreader boots with something tougher and more traditional. I think Sailrite may carry it but wonder if there are other recommendable sources so I can do some comparison shopping. We’re looking forward to launching Itchen next week and noticed that the old spreader boots are looking somewhat the worse for wear.
I have used latigo leather from eleathersupply.com. They also have tools, eg, punches, marking wheels, etc. I had gotten some “scraps” rather than a 1/2 hide and enough for two spreaders and several blocks, as well as chafe protection for lines. This is much stiffer and heavier wt (?7-9oz) than the usual stuff available from Sailrite. Many options in wts, color, & type available.
What did you end up doing on this project? I will
be getting to this at some point soon, I hope.
–
Ben Eriksen
Here’s the update and thanks for source suggestions from Doug Beu, Bob and Lois, and Tom. I got a few feet of the soft gray chrome leather from both Sailmakerssupply.com (good to deal on the phone with and previously not known to me) and Sailrite. Excellent quality from both suppliers. For the spreader boots I used the heavier leather from Sailrite, their Item #558 “4-5oz Chrome Pearl Grey” because it was the only one I could find which had a smooth grain-side finish. The leather from Sailmaker’s Supply was excellent but they did not have any with one side smooth. Theirs is fine (and cheaper) for any uses not requiring a smooth side.
Wish I had taken a photo of the boots but they came out well and are much neater and less bulky than the stock rubber spreader boots often used. Lower windage ought to add at least 0.001 knot to Itchen’s speed upwind. I used a standard “baseball stitch” along the lines of what’s well described in Toss’s book. This was good leather which had no tendency to rip when pulling the stitches tight.
I still have a couple of trial pieces which I could photograph if you want a rough idea of the pattern I used - it took some trial and error and fussing to get it right at the transition from spreader to shroud.
Good luck,
Scott
The baseball stitching will act as turbulators and cause the airflow around the boot to be laminar, i.e. no boundary layer build up. Based on my calculations, Itchen’s speed to weather will increase by another 0.001 kt. Total increase is speed estimated at 0.002 kt. It looks like IDUNA will be taken to the K-Itchen again.