Don Guillette - a question about your book

[Mike]

Don,I just got your Sail Trim Users Guide and have a question for you. At the start of Chapter 4 on page 37, you say:"On a masthead rig sailboat the 'engine' is the jib. On a fractional rig sailboat, the 'engine' is the mainsail. Since the masthead rig is the most common, we will discuss the jib in that context"Since I have a Mac which is fractionally rigged, do I have to interpret or make adjustments to any of the information you present about jib adjustments?

 

[Don Guillette]

Mike: In general, fractional rigs are more "tuneable". In other words,you can do more things with your mast as it is engeneered to flex more than than a masthed rig. On a masthead rig, you have to cinstantly "work" the jib to acheive 100% efficiency. On a fractional rig you have to constantly "work " the main.You don't have to make any adjustments to my sail trim material as a sail is a sail and the forces at work do not change with either rig but I'd commit all the sail trim sections on trim and controls to memory and then go over it again to be sure you've got it. The use of mast bend is very important to you as is properly setting up or "tuning" your mast. There is a pretty good book on the subject called "How To Trim Sails' by Peter Schweer. He goes into a lot of detail on fractional rigs.