150 genoa block position if very light air

Status
Not open for further replies.
Apr 8, 2005
20
- - Cleveland, MS
I have a MacGregor 26 X with a 150 genoa. In very light air, to flatten the sail should I move the genoa block aft and sheet in to flatten the sail? What situations would a barberhauler help, and exactly how does one rig one?
 
B

Bob

It depends

It depends on your point of sail. The best thing you can do in very light air is to heel the boat to leeward to let gravity help it 'shape out'. The same block positions as usual are appropriate. Sometimes, and depending on the rig, you can whisker the sail out on a reach and get much better shape. This is frowned on in some racing habitats, but for a casual sail it works fine.
 
May 17, 2004
2,111
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
MS Hillary: To answer your question on the Barberhauler, I need to know if you have inside or outside tracks or both? On how to rig it, you should check the "ask all sailors" section for my response to a couple of days ago. To flatten the jib, you would want to move the fairleads aft and crank in on the jib sheet. The reason you want to flatten the sail in very light air is the wind does not have the power to get around the sail. One thing you should do is try all the positions on your fairlead track and watch what happens to the jib. As you move the fairlead forward you'll see the sail belly out and when you move it aft, the belly is eliminated. To see this happen would be very easy if you had the Garhauer adjustable fairlead system. In less than 30 seconds, you would see the full spectrum.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.