The project that has most of my attention of late is a boom cover. A boom cover is most handy because it allows the mainsail to be stowed in place, ready to go at all times, while being protected from dun damage. For a singlehanded it's great because you can get sailing in a fraction of the time.
The trick with making a boom cover is its shape, thin down aft then bulging slightly as you go f'ard until 3 feet short of the mast where the bulk of the mains'l is and she tapers up and out rather drastically. So measuring up is crucial.
I broke the boom into increments of a foot, the with main flaked over the boom I measure the girth at each interval, allowing a four inch drop on each side. At the mast, I broke the vertical into 6 inch increments and measured them off.
At home I transferred the measurements onto sheets of newspaper taped together. I then joined the dots using a straight edge or piece of double-braided rope for a nice curve. The pattern is cut twice because the cover has a seam along its top edge.
The pieces are sewed finished faces together. I used a heavy duty tarp and had to have a join two-thirds of the way along, but if you can get a boom length tarp, using the edges of the yard as your finished cover, you can get away with one seam. Then hem the top that wraps around the mast. I fitted 1 inch webbing ties along the bottom and leading edges, once I knew it fitted well enough.
The finished result is really very good. It fits more snug than a professionally made cover I had done years ago, it's heavy duty, a fraction of the price and I can say I made it myself.
T
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