Are horizontal lineson mainsail from the luff normal?

[Rug7236]

This may be a dumb question but I'm still really new to this. But are the diagonal folds show in the picture, that start at the luff normal? I don't know if "folds" is the right word. I'm referring to the creases in the mainsail fabric all the way down the luff. Is this a sign of improper halyard tension when I initially raised the sail? Again I'm new to sailing. Catalina 22 with no Cunningham, thanks in advance.

 

[kappykaplan]

Yep - main halyard isn't tight enough. Or, the luff is too long for your set up.

 

[Apex]

often referred to as scallops, halyard tension as I undertand should be:
light wind, leave the scallops JUST in.
high wind, tighten halyard or cunningham to remove.

 

[Rug7236]

Yep - main halyard isn't tight enough. Or, the luff is too long for your set up.

Completely stock factory setup so I guess it is the halyard tension, thanks guys

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Two possibilities of sail too big/luff too long and main halyard not pulled tight enough could be the issues. Not knowing what the age of the sail is or what it has been thru, the third possibility is the bolt rope encapsulated in the luff may have stretched and the only way to fix is to send off to a sail loft for repairs unless you know how to fix and have the machinery to fix it with.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Or...drop the gooseneck down a bit. Issue solved, sail is not too big.

 

[Richard19068]

Or...drop the gooseneck down a bit. Issue solved, sail is not too big.

My old Catalina 22 had a down haul on the boom so you could pull the gooseneck down and get rid of some of those. That was in the early 70's though, hull #446. Don't know what they might have now. That was a good boat. It's amazing they went on to make 15,000 more of them.

 

[Ray Bowles]

+1 on Stu and Richard. Catalina 22 booms crawl up the mast unless you anchor the gooseneck down with a line. Also make sure your topping lift is fully off when mainsail is at full hoist.
Ray