12 inch tear in the bottom of my AG liner,HELP

[margaretsagpool]

Hello,
I have been browsing these forums from time to time ,getting great advice on different AG problems.I know have my very own BIG problem.
Details
5 year old 27 round,52 deep AG pool(fold over liner)
DH takes out wedding cake stairs ,drops bucket filled with sand to weigh the stairs down.This puts a 12 inch tear in the bottom of pool liner.Instant water gushing out!DH puts bucket lid over the hole.
rush to pool store to buy patch kit.Try to patch and water suction pulls the patch right through .
Hole gets bigger,wider so we leave bucket lid on to slow gush to a drain.
The nice man at our local pool store gave me a large piece of liner from a display.DH tries to patch,hole just gets bigger.
We have a pump slowly draining the pool while we decide what to do next.
This tear is now 18 inches long and 4 inches wide.
We don't have a issue with replacing the liner.The question is,do it now(fall) or wait until the spring?We were in the process of closing the pool when this happened.
Ideally we would like to deal with this in the spring.My issue is what to do with an empty pool for the next 4 months of a cold new England winter.
I would appreciate any advice on the big hassle.
Thanks
Margaret

 

[heatmisr]

My experience was that the pool did not drain completely down. (I put a hole in the cove with my brush) I was left with about 12"-18" of water. I left it uncovered and replaced the liner in the spring.

 

[matt4x4]

it's never a good idea to leave an empty pool (or almost empty pool) sitting for a long time - you can develop liner issues and wind and such can cause some serious problems as well.
I would patch it asap and at the very least get the water level back up to the mid point on your wall, snow and such will get you a little extra by spring.