Cunningham line for the 170?

[gball]

Hi all,I'm hoping to gain better control (flattening) of the lower luff of my 170's mainsail. But my North Sails main only has a line that's sown into the tack of the sail, presumably to be wrapped around the gooseneck in an effort to 'tighten down' the tack. Also, the tack grommet pins into a non-adjustable brace just above the gooseneck, preventing micro-adjustments to the tack grommet/luff tension. I would like to add a cleat to the mast near the mast's vang bail and secure a cunningham line extension to that cleat, affording greater luff control. So I'm wondering: Have any 170 sailors out there modified this very rudimentary tail of a cunningham line, and if so, how? Also, are there kits which allow one to use a 'large needle and thread' to weave/attach an extension of line to that tail-line, thus extending the cunningham and allowing better tension control of the tack & the luff?Thanks for any insight,Mike G.s/v Lil Sport -h170Alachua, FL

 

[Joe1455]

Cunningham

Last year I asked Northsails about the '1 ft lenght of heavy rope hanging from the bottom luff of the Main/runs up full lenght to top of Main'. Reply was "The Line is born from our one design brothers who often like to have the ability to adjust their 'bolt rope' after a year or so of sailing. Fact is that after a couple of years the line can shrink and this change affects the forward part of the sail a bit. For a one design sailor this can make a difference hence the 'dangling line', is left so if needed they can unstitch it and ease it out a bit allowing the sail to take the shape that was originally designed into it. You will probably never need to make such an adjustment as you will likely never tension and release the sail in as many cycles as a typical one design sailer. Your line should never shrink the way they anticipate."I can't comment on using this bolt rope to construct a cunningham device. Just learning. Seems like pulling on the bolt rope tail would tension the entire luff-if we're talking about the same line.Next time I'm around a boat with a cunningham will have to look at how it works/what it does to better understand it. FYI and don't be offended but I completely disconnect my topping lift from the boom and cleat it off to the mast once boom is supported by the Main. Before learning to do this, noted lots of loose material in the lower luff section that couldn't be removed no matter what I did. Keep us posted!Joe

 

[gball]

Topping lift

Joe, thanks.Now that you mention it, my Jobson (Fundamentals of Sailing) book talks about "not letting the boom fall to the deck during reefing (lowering of the mainsail)", which would indicate the skipper had earlier disconnected the topping lift, as you mention. This sounds like a great idea...and as you suggest, doing this probably lets every last bit of tension out of the luff.As for the line tail sewn in at the clew, I will try to extend a 1/4" line off of this and fashion a crude Cunningham from this. I'll post a write-up and pics of these mods once they're all complete. Also have put in a request for estimate with Doyle Sailmakers for a new mainsail (since my '99 North is getting up there in years/use) and will inquire further about an additional grommet for Cunningham. Am also asking them about double reefing. Of course, the second reef grommets would have to be above the lower batten, but I think this could work, since the batten is only about a 15 degrees angle off horizontal. Thanks,Mike

 

[Joe1455]

Just Once

Yeah, one finds out soon enough when attempting to reef with a disconnected topping lift! I DO have experience with this!!!Joe