bolt rope foot

[Quoddy]

I'm trying to decide what the best way is to rig the foot of the main; I have a choice between loose and bolt rope. The boat is 6000-lb, centerboard, internal ballast, fractional, aluminum boom and without a traveler.Upwind I intend to play the sheet.

 

[higgs]

I think you get a better shape with a loose footed main. It is pretty much the way mains are now being made.

 

[BobM]

This has been discussed on numerous occasions and you may wish to run a search and go through the discussions to read the opinions of those more versed than I.

As I recall, the trade off is that you gain in sail trim control with a loose foot, but the loose foot makes the addition of lazy jacks almost a requirement. That is because a main with a bolt rope is tied to the boom and easier to furl. On your boat, given its moderate size, that may be less of an issue, but I would imagine that I'd have a mess on my hands if I dropped my loose footed main without my lazy jacks in place. Certainly it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would make flaking more interesting. Be prepared, if you are buying a new main, that the added stiffness of a new sail makes flaking more entertaining too.

Going back to sail trim. The loose footed main tends to make me more conscientious in adjusting my out haul because the belly of the main is much more obvious with a loose foot. For the most part sail makers are moving towards loose foot these days.

 

[higgs]

I had a loose footed main on my old Irwin 32 and had no problem flaking the main w/o jacks. Pretty much everyone I know is loose fitted and only a few use jacks.

 

[Alan]

Most all sail lofts these days are building loose footed mains. I've had both and much prefer the loose footed sail. As BobM says it allows you to easily view the draft of the lower part of the sail. The difference comes down to what you prefer. Go with what makes you happy.

As for trimming your main with no traveler. Using the sheet to control angle of attack is your one and only option but unfortunately this will also affect sail twist. This is where you desperately need a good vang. Using the sheet to control angle of attack instead of the traveler leaves the vang to control sail twist. Vang sheeting is probably the least used control on smaller boats yet is easy to do and extremely effective.

 

[Joe]

As I recall, the trade off is that you gain in sail trim control with a loose foot, but the loose foot makes the addition of lazy jacks almost a requirement.

That's just not true, my friend. A bolt rope, loose foot, shelf foot... what ever ....
has no effect on flaking.. I've had both on my boat... there is no difference. For what it's worth, I usually tighten the outhaul on my loose foot main before flaking.