Thanks to the guys today down at Brighton for the help, after the kite decided it needed some air vents in the canopy.
Anyone had good experiences with any places getting kite repairs done (more than just putting pegs on it)? And is it worth resurrecting the old girl?
Looks like it has some pretty major damage but......I would send these photos to Moti Levi. He is a guy up in Tweed Heads that repairs kites. He does a very good job and is very fair on the price. Look up the details on the web.
Cheers. Yeah, it's definitely had a bit of mis/use over the time.
Cost of repair vs value of kite will be pretty touch and go I would guess. If it's to expensive commercially, I get to try and repair it myself and make a hideous frankenkite.
Looks like an old kite. Not worth paying anyone to repair.
Shipping cost back and forth to Moti is a waste of money.
It doesn't look like the LE needs to be opened so that's not such a big job.
Easy and cheap to have a go yourself. Not much to lose and something worthwhile to learn. Adhesive coated spinnaker repair tape. UV resistant sail thread and mum's sewing machine set to zig zag.
I do have lots of spare time, the spinnaker tape and access to a sewing machine.
If it works, I'll get a back up kite out of it for sweet fk-all.
Look up Thompson sails speak to James .... Don't bother with Horizon sails they are a rip off. Shouldn't cost more than $120
I use horizon sails. Fantastic job & good price
Example, recent massive tear in canopy was $66 & small leading edge repair with me removing bladder was $30
Will continue using them
I've never asked for it to be quoted, just get it done & pay for it. That way they don't have to allow for guessing
exact same thing happened to my switcy a couple years back, kite shop just told me it wasnt worth it as the tear is just too big plus the kite was old. even if it were repaired, it may not fly the same. but i'm no expert, i just ditched it and got another 2nd hand kite.
James is local and the way 2 go 0403 011 062... Can't fault his work. As good as new 
I'm pretty special at wrecking stuff. Just muffed a back roll and the kite hit the water rather hard.
Will need a bit more tape for the other side, then some thread. Any recommendations where to get the UV stable thread from?
I used little bits of spinnaker tape to hold the panels together, then taped over the join. I've still got a bit of work to do, but at least it looks like a kite now. Performance I'm sure will be decreased - if it holds together long enough to find out!
I got into repairing my own kites a couple of years ago.
You can buy it here but difficult to get small spools so it will be expensive.
Buy at some motor car trimmers and upholsterers and of course sail lofts if they are willing to help.
I got mine from US, quite cheap but mail is expensive:
www.sailrite.com/
If you intend to do all your own repairs then best to buy both Black & White spool. 1 oz or 4 oz (about $5 or $15)
V92 Dabond Polyester for LE / HD repairs
V69 Dabond Polyester for sail cloth repairs
I also got some HD (about 5 oz ) Dacron cloth for repairing LE and reinforced panels.
Good info, thanks Rob.
Took the kite out for a test run today, was waiting for it to explode....but it survived!! Pretty happy with my results, as it seems to fly as it did before, turns the same both ways, sits stable when needed and I'm sure will clear some airspace when it's busy (like an old rusty ****box of a car on a busy road).
Unfortunately I don't have any post sew pictures.
Well done!
I've not noticed any change in flying characteristics after my repair jobs either.
