Dart 15 Forums

My trampoline has developed a frayed split in the front port corner. It is about 6" long and runs from near to the port edge going inboard parrallel to and 2" aft of the diagonal seam. The rest of the tramp looks pretty sound. (The boat is sailed doublehanded on the sea approx once a fortnight during spring summer months and I do try and wash tramp down with freshwater when I can)

A search of the site suggests that similarly described damage is repairable by a competent sailmaker.

Given my description of the damage and level of usage do you think a repair is feasible and if so can anyone recommend a sailmaker?

If not. Will I need to upgrade my tramp tracks if I purchase a new trampoline? To the best of my knowledge these are the originals and again seem to be in good condition. My boat is Sail No 1700 (Graffiti)

Martin wrote:My trampoline has developed a frayed split in the front port corner. It is about 6" long and runs from near to the port edge going inboard parrallel to and 2" aft of the diagonal seam. The rest of the tramp looks pretty sound. (The boat is sailed doublehanded on the sea approx once a fortnight during spring summer months and I do try and wash tramp down with freshwater when I can)

A search of the site suggests that similarly described damage is repairable by a competent sailmaker.

Given my description of the damage and level of usage do you think a repair is feasible and if so can anyone recommend a sailmaker?

If not. Will I need to upgrade my tramp tracks if I purchase a new trampoline? To the best of my knowledge these are the originals and again seem to be in good condition. My boat is Sail No 1700 (Graffiti)

My old trampoline suffered virtually an identical tear in exactly the same place! What I would do is remove it and get in contact with your local sailmaker, ask at your club for recomendations and then let them look at it and see what they think. This is the cheapest option by far.

The material was begining to show clear signs of failure all over the trampoline in my case, it was 13yrs old so the time had come as it were, and I decided to replace the whole thing, which then forced me to replace my Tracks too since the old tracks don't fit the new trampoline correctly the bolt rope has changed its dimensions.

Have a read of the "how to replace tracks" article on this site in the Hints and Tips section for my experiences doing this, its pretty straightforward but a little nerve wracking. The new tracks have a rail on top which is for sliding in a Jib fairlead adjuster assembly, if yours are smooth on top you have the old style.

Incidentally not long after replacing my tracks and trampoline, someone strolling along the beach stubbed out a cigarette on it and melted a nice hole in my new trampoline, I had to get a patch sewn on it!. Talk about bad luck.

YOu should be able to get a mend like that done for around £20 from a small sailmaker. I've had numerous repairs, the largest in the same place. Just make sure that the material used to mend it is sewn onto both sides as it probably won't be as porous as the tramp material & may just get blown off by waves coming up from underneath, if stuck on to the top of the tramp, I've had that happen, which is a waste of a repair as it only lasted 2 races!

When I purchased my boat last year it had a tear in the trampoline in exactly the position you describe. Perhaps the close proximity of the not-so-stretchy diagonal seam and the edge of tramp results in a lack of ‘give’ in that area. I know I often put my knee of foot down on that part of the tramp when sailing in light airs or stepping over the front on approach to the shore.

Anyway..... my tramp also looked to be the boat's original, so was quite saggy and UV-degraded. I opted to bite the bullet and buy new tracks and tramp from Windsport. It’s not cheap, but the result looks good and the boat is much stiffer and noticeably quicker - or maybe I've just been luckier this season

Removing the old tramp tracks was an eye opener - the deck underneath had large holes and cracks - the starboard hull in particular had been letting in water on windy days and I could see why. If I hadn't replaced the tramp, the whole track would probably have pulled out soon enough.

I whimped out of fitting the new track - Steve Sawford did the job whilst giving the boat the full restoration treatment. The quality of Steve's work and final result (including new tramp) transformed the boat - well worth the investment on both counts.

If you buy the new tracks there are matching stainless sliders for attaching jib blocks (as Martin mentions above). Although these also aren't cheap it’s worth buying them up-front. To fit them later will (I believe) mean removing and then replacing the riveted end caps from one or other end of each track.

Anyway, it sounds like your tramp may be newer and in better condition than my old one, so a good local sailmaker is probably the way forward. On the other hand, if your boat leaks like a sieve and/or your tramp is saggy it might just be worth investing in a new one.