Fixed vs Loose Foot - O'Day 20

Sep 9, 2016
28
ODay 20 Manchester, NH
Hello - I am having a new sail made for my 1976 O'Day 20, which has a fractional rig, by Precision Sails. They are asking me if I want a fixed foot or a loose foot on the sail (where it attaches to the boom). They are recommending a loose foot, saying that is how most of their sails are constructed now. I am not familiar with a loose foot, and am looking for any comments or suggestions. They charge a little more for a fixed foot ($75 or so), but that is not a factor.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
Apr 26, 2015
663
S2 26 Mid On Trailer
Loose foot, outhaul adjustments are easier. Just make sure it comes with a low friction slide. We are ordering a new main for our project in a couple of months and will go with loose foot. If you race in class, check the class rules. Most one design classes are allowing the loose foot.
 
Sep 9, 2016
28
ODay 20 Manchester, NH
Thank you folks for all of your input and suggestions. Loose foot it is.
 
Apr 4, 2013
116
O'day 240 NY, NY (City Island)
Just make sure that you will be able to adjust your outhaul easily and secure it after adjustment. When I switched from a bolt rope to loose-foot, I needed to add a block at the end of my outhaul to get some more mechanical advantage (which you may not need... I have a 240, which is a larger mainsail than your 20). However, that required taking up one of the boom-end sheaves that was formerly used by the adjustable topping lift. So I had to sort out how to change the topping lift so that it would not need that boom-end sheave, which I did by switching to a topping lift with a small integrated block and cleat. In the end I'm happy with the change, but I didn't quite know how many other things that one change would affect. Just take a careful look and see exactly how it will set up on your boat.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
Loose foot. So much easier to see how much draft you've got.

The drawback to a loose foot is that you add induced drag due to the endplate effect as the loose foot allows airflow from high pressure to low pressure side of the sail. Hahahaha, not gonna be a big deal on our non-race boats! However, the way a race boat would address it is to have a shelf sewn into the bottom of the loose foot sail. This acts very much like the winglet you see on the tip of airliner wings.

I would also recommend draft stripes, so you can see the location of max draft up the sail. In higher winds, the draft of the sail is pushed aft by the force of the wind, inducing more heeling. This is why luff tension is important, and often controlled by a Cunningham. The Cunningham allows you to set the halyard to max sail hoist, yet still pull down and increase luff tension to basically pull the point of max draft forward in higher winds.

Like Greg, I also added 2:1 purchase to my outhaul. I measured about 10% of foot length to be my maximum amount of draft, and marked that on my boom to a reference point on my purchase block. Eventually I will get around to adding an adhesive scale (just a ruler, basically) because I keep pretending it's a race boat or something... :D