Hi All - are any of you using a foresail pennant? I was wondering if you noticed any additional heel, power loss, or weather effects. I was considering using one on my home sailing lake so I can see better because there are so many kayakers and paddleboarders. Even when there is nobody on the lake, it's nice to be able to see better. Thanks for your thoughts in advance. Kevin
Foresail pennant
- Thread starter kclancy
- Start date
I use on on a cut down 150 when cruising. Works well, increases visibility and performance sacrifices for day sailing is marginal. Racing on the other hand no way. The big deck sweeping 150 at class measurements will not handle a pennant and even if you could the increase in righting moment with the large foot being so high would not be worth it.
We use a pennant for the jib on our Colgate 26, and it mainly exists to allow the foot of the jib to be trimmed inboard without catching up on the bow pulpit, lifelines, or stanchions. Before we had the pennant, a crew member would be sent up to the narrow foredeck to "skirt" the jib to bring it inside the lifelines. Pain in the butt...! The pennant does sacrifice some performance, but it's useful for things like daily cruising and sailing lessons.
Sure. I have a Dyneema pennant on our heavy-weather jib. No problem on strength. Dyneema will be comparable in breaking strength to similarly-sized stainless cable, so 1/8" is the roughly the same strength as your forestay, and probably considerably stronger than your halyard.
But...Dyneema is slippery, so it requires a long bury splice ~72x the diameter. So the shortest pennant you can make with 1/8" Dyneema (with eyes on both ends) is 2x 1/8" x 72 = 18 in + eyes; practically, ~20-24".
If you need a shorter pennant, you can make a continuous loop of almost any length you like, with Allen's directions at Loops, Loups, and Loupes.
Yes! All of our headsails have pennants. The smaller the sail, the longer the pennant. The added visibility is nice, but it also allows for a better sheet angle relative to the luff. Also less deformation of the sail where it drapes over the pulpit. Ours are made of braided stainless wire.
Uh, boys, I hate to be annoying... but.. I think you mean "pendant" rather than "pennant"
I mention this just so you can either win a bar bet, or not lose one.
PENNANT
"a: any of various nautical flags tapering usually to a point or swallowtail and used for identification or signaling
b: a flag or banner longer in the fly than in the hoistespecially : one that tapers to a point"
PENDANT
"3: a length of line usually used as a connector on a boat or shipespecially : a short rope hanging from a spar and having at its free end a block or spliced thimble "
Okay... flame me.. I can take it.
I mention this just so you can either win a bar bet, or not lose one.
PENNANT
"a: any of various nautical flags tapering usually to a point or swallowtail and used for identification or signaling
b: a flag or banner longer in the fly than in the hoistespecially : one that tapers to a point"
PENDANT
"3: a length of line usually used as a connector on a boat or shipespecially : a short rope hanging from a spar and having at its free end a block or spliced thimble "
Okay... flame me.. I can take it.
Here's another heads up: West Marine has all the pieces, parts and small diameter wire to build your own pendants ...and best of all.... there's a complimentary workbench in their hardware section with a big crimping device and other tools you need to make them up right there in the store. I made a whole set of pendants some years ago to keep in the rigging kit, never know when you might need one.... kinda like having spare sail ties in your pocket when you go forward.
Even though I love dyneema for many applications, I prefer the wire type. Putting the appropriately rated eyesplice on each end of a short piece of dyneema line is a little iffy for me. The longest pendant I have is only 16 inches or so.
Even though I love dyneema for many applications, I prefer the wire type. Putting the appropriately rated eyesplice on each end of a short piece of dyneema line is a little iffy for me. The longest pendant I have is only 16 inches or so.
Once had a boat with a huge Genoa that blocked my view of what was in front of me. I had a window put in that sail and that helped. On my current boat I have a genoa with a short luff and a long pendant that gives me full view of the horizon from the cockpit while standing. I suppose this makes my boat slower but I need the visibility at least until the lobsters have moved on.