Drifter block positioning?

[stickinthemud57]

I have ordered a .75 ounce nylon drifter for my MacGregor 26S for use in light winds, and want to have everything prepared when it gets here. I have ordered two ratcheting pulleys, but I am not sure where I will want to mount them. The foot of this sail will be 15' (6" shorter than the standard genoa for this boat). I set the block cars for the sheets for the old genoa at the full aft position on the cabin-top rails, back near the winches. This worked fine for that sail, but I see a lot of drifter sheets led further aft of the cabin, so I'm not quite sure using the old arrangement will work optimally.

Anyone out there with any knowledge or experience flying a drifter? Your input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jssailem]

You want to locate the blocks at the stern. You are going to fly the drifter high and out in front of the boat like a balloon.
Here is the basic set up. You may seek to pull the sheet down and in at some point. Do this with a tweaker on the sheet.

 

[dLj]

The foot of this sail will be 15' (6" shorter than the standard genoa for this boat). I set the block cars for the sheets for the old genoa at the full aft position on the cabin-top rails...

I've never had a drifter where the foot was shorter than my Genoa. Sounds like you will be fine using the block cars from the old Genoa. But I'd have to see the sail shape when flying....

dj

 

[stickinthemud57]

Thanks for the responses. Like a lot of what I do on my boat, it's a bit out of the ordinary. One of the purposes for this sail is to give me a boost on downwind legs when I race. For that reason, I went with my sailmaker's advice to keep the foot length similar to my old genoa, with 6" less to allow for stretch, and keeping in mind that I would want to be able to use a whisker pole to go wing-on-wing. It was important to limit certain dimensions to minimize impact on my PHRF, which is one of the reasons I decided not to go with a spinnaker.

@jssailem - thanks for the idea regarding the tweaker sheet. I will keep that in mind.

@dLj - I'll give you a shout when I get it set up and you can come sailing with me!