Went out for a sail today and came back with a decent slit in my sail between the first and second banter :(

I was wondering how it happens, how I could temporalily(sp?) fix it and approximately how much it would cost to have it fixed.

Consider buying yourself a second hand industrial sewing machine, it will save you a lot of money in the long run. I bought one for about 400 bucks and with no sewing experience I've patched tons of sails (myself and friends). I've also made myself harnesses, sail bags, and even fixed the odd pair of jeans!

For small tears, I just use stickyback, medium ones I stitch over the stickyback and big ones I replace the whole panel (you need to be careful to keep the right curve in the sail).