Genny's hanging loose

[Mike Whalen]

A while back I posted that I had found a Genoa in my V berth storage locker on my O'day 25. Last weekend I ran it up. There were a couple of racing types nearby and they commented on the fact that she was a little long between halyard and shackle and thus a bit loose. It was about as far up as I could get it. I didn't use the winch so I might make it a bit tighter. The bag is labeled #2 Genoa 120. The boat flew with the sail as it was. I had about thre hours of light and decided to psend none of it messing with the sail. There is a second shackle at the bow. While it is a couple of inches nearer the bow it is also about an inch higher so I'm not sure the light is worth the candle. I don't sail and don't care if I don't look well pressed. Any reason to care about this built in luff at the front stay?(Hate to point it out but its still mid 50s to 60 here so still sailing to be done with or without the new sail)Later,Mike

 

[Rob]

For what it's worth..

Hi Mike, I'm figuring from your post that you don't race. If you are like me, that means you probably sail for leisure - but you still want to sail efficiently. Let's face it, we don't go that fast to begin with. Losing a knot is like losing more than 10 percent of our speed. Here's what I would do.Run your halyard around your winch and give it crank or two to see if that tightens the luff a bit. Usually that's all it takes. If that doesn't work, and you still have lots of wrinkles or scallops, try taking the sail to a local loft. The folks there will be able to shave the top off of the sail for you, and cost should be minimal. Also - make sure the jib halyard is 100 percent free and clear at the top of the mast - just a couple inches of obstruction can cause a jib to scallop.Let us know what you find out!Rob