Luff tension
- Thread starter Mark Maulden
- Start date
Always slack off the halyard on the Selden Furlex jib as well as the Selden Furlin main when not in use. No advantage to the extra compression on the mast.
No, and I won't loosen the front stay either. The preset tension of a furled jib on the rig is insignificant when compared to the tension provided by the sail deployed into the wind. I leave just a small amount of sag in the stay and the sail luff and in many years have not had any consequences. Did break the tack ring on a furler once but that was sailing close hauled into a 25-30 knot breeze. The manufacturer replaced the head free of charge with a redesigned and upgraded unit.
Benny, I'm not following here. Mark Maulden was asking about the luff tension which is released by slacking off the halyard. The forestay doesn't affect the tension in the luff or am I just not following your post correctly ?
No, you are correct the tension on the forestay does not affect the tension on the luff. I just intended to make a comparison between in my opinion the necessity of releasing tension on the luff with the necessity of releasing tension of the head stay. I preset the luff tension with the halyard every time I install the headsail. I apply just enough tension for average conditions and leave it like that until the next time the sail needs to come down which averages 2-3 times a year. When sailing the force of the wind will multiply that tension many times over than when the sail is furled. The force vector that broke the tack ring on our furler seemed to represent a significant increase in luff tension. The breaking force was not lateral and the luff stayed under tension until we took the pressure off and furled the sail. I say "seemed to" because the head unit was definitely not up the job and the manufacturer had already come with an improved replacement. Their willingness to replace free of charge even after the warranty had passed tells me they were aware of the weakness and did not want any backlash from complaints to Hunter Marine. In short my answer to the question is NO, I do not release tension of the luff after every outing. There is hardly any tension to release and I have been doing it this way for more than 40 years with no adverse effects on the sails.
My jib halyard is cleated off at the mast. All other sail control lins are led aft to the cockpit. I both tension & relieve the luff on the tack of the jib with a thin high strength line looped a couple of times between the tack grommet and the drum of the furler.
So the intent of my question is if u have roller furling on the jib, do you relieve the halyard tension when finished sailing and boat is in the slip or on a mooring? iis the luff tensioned 100% of the time its furled in additioned to sailing? Or do you relieve it and retension it next time out?
For Myself (being OCD) ...........................
Not sayin' it's the right way or the only way, but it's the way I do it. I also take off my glasses when I'm not looking at anything
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So the intent of my question is if u have roller furling on the jib, do you relieve the halyard tension when finished sailing and boat is in the slip or on a mooring? YES iis the luff tensioned 100% of the time its furled NO, BECAUSE THE HALYARD IS SLACKED WHEN THE SAIL IS FURLED in additioned to sailing IT'S UNDER TENSION WHEN SAILING? Or do you relieve it and retension it next time out YES EXACTLY ?
Not sayin' it's the right way or the only way, but it's the way I do it. I also take off my glasses when I'm not looking at anything
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Not sayin' it's the right way or the only way, but it's the way I do it. I also take off my glasses when I'm not looking at anything .[/QUOTE]
Are you worried your glasses will wear out faster?
.[/QUOTE]Are you worried your glasses will wear out faster?
You SHOULD.
Even with a furler, halyard tension still controls draft position. Forestay tension controls sag. Releasing the tension when done with the sail makes furling/unfulring easier, and is better for lines and blocks.
We have a furler on our First 260, the jib halyard is an active control line.
If your halyard is set loose enough that you feel that easing it when done sailing is unnecessary, its very likely that your draft position is often too far aft.