Opinions about topping lift rubbing on main sail

[JonnyQuest]

bffatcat,
Your comments about getting things set up "right where you want them" is also an objective.
I spent some time yesterday at dock with my mainsail raised. Just worked on adjusting all the various sail adjustments to better tune the shape of sail, height et cetera. the day before while I was out sailing in light winds looking at my mainsail look more like a laundry disaster than anything else, it was so baggy. And previously it was always a fight, with my boom rubbing across the top of the Bimini or not being able to raise the Bimini while under sail without hitting the boom, etc. The main now looks like a mainsail again with the proper shape. I also made all the adjustments so that I boom and Bimini clear each other without any trouble.

It helped to sit and fiddle with the sail adjustments while at dock and not having other distractions. I'm looking forward now to heading out and testing my new arrangements, hopefully this weekend.

 

[JonnyQuest]

Revisiting my main sail for more input please. Here's a photo of the foot showing how the clew is quite a bit short of the end of the boom. Does this look normal for an ODay 27 sail or do y'all think this is a ill-sized replacement sail? After all, look where the reefing cheek block is compared to the reef points.

Just curious since it looks short to me.

Thanks!

JQ

 

[Hotslrmn]

So after rigging my topping lift (another thread) to make it adjustable and to keep it attached to the boom at all times, I see that the topping lift crosses behind the curve of my leech about 75% the way up to the top--about where the top most batten is. I assume that this is not a good thing for the sail, and probably why the PO did not keep the topping lift attached under sail. I'm concerned with whether this will be bad for the main sail.

So my options appear to be 1. Install a boomkicker and ditch the topping lift; 2. Install lazy jacks and ditch the tipping lift. I have been thinking about lazy jacks for some time now, so that may be the better way to go. Are they sufficient to support the boom?

Any opinions on how to deal with the topping lift crossing behind the main sail? Any other considerations I am not considering here?

Thanks,

Jonny

Attach a small whipped leader at the stern, (even life rail), secure T.L. to this after main hoist, return T.L. to boom b4 main douse.

 

[Joe]

Revisiting my main sail for more input please. Here's a photo of the foot showing how the clew is quite a bit short of the end of the boom. Does this look normal for an ODay 27 sail or do y'all think this is a ill-sized replacement sail? After all, look where the reefing cheek block is compared to the reef points.

Well Johnny......... either the sail's too small, or the boom's too long... why don't you look up the sail dimensions for your boat. http://thesailwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=storeframe.html&cart_id=

note the difference in sail size between the 27 and the 272....

 

[Rich Stidger]

I have a large roach main on my boat and I had the same issue of the topping lift hitting the leach of the sail. In my case it was bad enough to have the batten ends catch on the topping lift and hang up during a tack. Slacking the topping lift didn't help because the TL would then hang and continue hitting and snagging.

I finally had my sail maker trim just a few inches off the roach in the very top area where the snags were occurring. End of problem.

In retrospect, a rigid vang would probably be a better solution IMO.

 

[JonnyQuest]

Joe, that's very helpful information, especially the link. I'll have to get back to my boat and take measurements but it looks to me so far like I may have a replacement boom on my sailboat. (I was thinking replaced sails, not boom!)

Could also explain why one of the POs incorrectly ran the outhaul rigging line outside of the pad eyes, no reefing line and has mispositioned hardware for it to boot.

 

[rardiH36]

JonnyQuest:

I would echo Joe's suggestion to look up information on your boat model.

That mainsail's foot is definitely too short for the boom. But conversely, looking at the photos you posted to your album ... the boom is definitely not too long for the boat. Typical of most cruising sailboats, doesn't even come close to the stern. Also your mast matches the boom. So a PO would have had to change out both. Measure the mast height from the deck and then also from the deck to the waterline. Does that match the specification of your boat model. Is the mainsail's luff long enough to reach within a foot or so of the mast? If so, and the main sail is in reasonable condition (and from you pic's it looks so), then give consideration to just using it. Looking at your photo album, I see that you have a large mast head genoa. For a masthead rigged sailboat, the head sail provided more "engine" power than does the mainsail. Providing that your current mainsail does make it to the top of the mast, I would venture that for most recreational days of sailing you would hard pressed to notice the difference of an additional 5-10% surface area with a mainsail whose foot is the extra two or so feet longer towards the end of the boom. Again ... finding out information and other pictures of your boat model will be useful.

Nice photo album.