Sewing clew areas

Question

Having trouble sewing multiple layers around clew, head or tack. Bobbin thread is not always picked up, needle has to be very slowly inserted into fabric. I am using 92 thread and 20 or 22 needle. Easy to break needles, even when being extra careful of feed rate and not pulling on the material. This is on my #2 jib and is about 6 layers of dacron with 2 layers of sun screen fabric. Email [e-mail]!