Just wondering if using the forward vs aft headboard hole for halyard attachment is a not often mentioned main sail trim feature. I don't ever seeing anything about it in my speed reads of various sail trim books, or on this forum. An internet search yields some results in sailing forums, but answers seem somewhat conjectured rather than definitive.
I am asking now because ever since I got my boat, I have had two halyard shackles on the halyard loop at the top of my halyard. One I attach to the fore hole. The other to the aft. (I've done this because I thought it made no real difference and using both holes served to spread the load 50/50.)
Yesterday, for no real reason, I decided to just use the forward hole. First indication of difference is that the sail hoisted easier as the head neared the top. (I hoist the sail by hand generally to the last few inches before tensioning with the cabin top winch.) So maybe more vertical rather than tangent pull up?
The second difference is that when I slackened my topping lift, the boom dropped down several inches lower than before. It was now at my head crown height when standing in the cockpit rather than a few inches above. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought the sail shape did appear less cupped and flatter along the aft/leach area in the brisk winds yesterday on San Francisco bay.
It seems that tensioning the sail with the headboard's 2" further out aft hole gives much more tension to the leach section of the sail than using the forward hole instead? Intuitively I wouldn't have thought it would make much of a difference.
Any insights?
I am asking now because ever since I got my boat, I have had two halyard shackles on the halyard loop at the top of my halyard. One I attach to the fore hole. The other to the aft. (I've done this because I thought it made no real difference and using both holes served to spread the load 50/50.)
Yesterday, for no real reason, I decided to just use the forward hole. First indication of difference is that the sail hoisted easier as the head neared the top. (I hoist the sail by hand generally to the last few inches before tensioning with the cabin top winch.) So maybe more vertical rather than tangent pull up?
The second difference is that when I slackened my topping lift, the boom dropped down several inches lower than before. It was now at my head crown height when standing in the cockpit rather than a few inches above. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought the sail shape did appear less cupped and flatter along the aft/leach area in the brisk winds yesterday on San Francisco bay.
It seems that tensioning the sail with the headboard's 2" further out aft hole gives much more tension to the leach section of the sail than using the forward hole instead? Intuitively I wouldn't have thought it would make much of a difference.
Any insights?
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