H240 Mainsail and boom
- Thread starter Dolphin55
- Start date
Some sails have what is called a loose foot. It sounds like that is what you have. Does the sail have the right shape loose foot and full of wind? If so you are fine and good to go sailing
Loose footed mains are considered better performers because the foot of the sail is free to take a better foil shape. sail lofts recommend them over captured footed mains. If you are sailing oceans, you might be able to collect more rainwater with a captured foot. Some mains have a shelf built into them for improved shape and to minimize air loss under the foot. They also collect rainwater better. rgranger is probably right. Yours is meant to be that way.
-Will (Dragonfly)
-Will (Dragonfly)
You guys are amazing! Merely hours after my question was asked, you replied with very helpful answers. Great forum. Now that I understand the difference between a captured foot and foot-loose main, I will take a second look at it and send some pics. I suspect I have a foot loose main.
Crazy Dave, you were right. I pulled out the original sail and it had a bolt rope embedded into the foot that fits right into the boom track. The new sail is foot loose. I will try both and see which one performs better. The old sail, however needs some minor repair and some battons.
Also, does the 240 perform well with jib only? My Lido does. Instead of reefing the main, I just drop the main and fly the jib. Can I do the same thing with the 240? The owner's manual implies the reverse (dropping the jib and reefing the main to reduce canvas in high winds).
You can think of a sailboat like a weathervane. The CLR (Center of Lateral Resistance) is the pivot point of the vane and the CE (Center of Effort) is the tail, combined with the rudder's ability to bend the flow of water. Normally, the CLR is just behind the CE (typically 5%, but as much as 20%). This picture from sailboatdata.com shows the CE for each sail plus the CE for both together. The CLR is approximated by finding the center of cross-sectional area below the waterline, including the rudder. Here, it appears to be just about balanced under the CE. With the centerboard all the way down, it looks like you will have a little lee helm, but not too bad with jib only. If jib only sailing is something you think you may do often, you might consider a genoa for a headsail. The CE will move aft a little more with a deeper overlaping headsail. These are all roughly calcuestimated values and dynamic under actual sail. You will experience differing results at different points of sail with different wind speeds (different angles of heel). The Hunter 240 looks good to me, though. I have sailed under headsail only on several boats from a hobie 18 to a Freedom 44 and a Shannon 50. They are all possible to sail like that. The 44 an the 50 were not sloop rigs and performed poorly, but performance wasn't the main need at the time. The Hobie actually did pretty well.
-Will (Dragonfly)
@Dolphin55
The 240 has no backstay due to the B&R rig. The main is designed bigger for more power than a standard main. I was told if you take the total sail area of standard main and jib it equaled a mainsail and an appx 135 Genoa. I would use the main sometimes reefed. You can add a second reef to the main. Not sure if you have roller furling jib but would suggest it if one is not installed
The 240 has no backstay due to the B&R rig. The main is designed bigger for more power than a standard main. I was told if you take the total sail area of standard main and jib it equaled a mainsail and an appx 135 Genoa. I would use the main sometimes reefed. You can add a second reef to the main. Not sure if you have roller furling jib but would suggest it if one is not installed
To be clear, I maintain it will work and, with roller furling, will offer some flexibility that reefing the main may not. For instance, when sailing into port and you don't want to fight with furling the main when obstacles are near by, but the main-only option offers, perhaps, better performance over all. Dave knows what he's talking about. You will want to take what is said on these forums and factor them into your own experiences with your boat and your comfort level.
-Will (Dragonfly)
-Will (Dragonfly)
Will, I don't quite see the CE and CLR designated on the drawing. The CLR is the geometric center (at the cross hairs). Right? Can you describe to me what I should be looking for to distinguish the location of the CE's on the drawing? I also pulled up the original drawing from sailboatdata.com but it is no better quality.
The circles with the horizontal or verticle bars are the CE for each sail and the circle with the crosshairs is the calculated average for both sails. The CLR isn't shown, I just looked at the picture and estimated. The traditional way of finding the CLR is to make a cutout of the profile below the waterline and balance it on a point. That's the rough CLR. Modern CAD calculations take into account drag, shape and width of bottom, not just profile. Still, the individual designers adjust according to their own sense of correctness and aesthetics. It isn't precise. To many factors and everything changes when heel and winds angle and sail trim change.
-Will (Dragonfly)
-Will (Dragonfly)
@Dolphin55 I'm not a sail expert but I find that no problem sailing under Genoa alone on my H26. I think your boat has similar sail characteristics. What @Crazy Dave Condon is saying is the hunters have big mains so they sail rather well under main alone so you might want to play with it and see what feels right. You will get some lee helm on head sail only and that is not as safe as weather helm. But like @Will Gilmore said, if you have a roller head sail, the ease of reefing may be a desirable factor when under heavy wind conditions so you may find that headsail alone feels safer than the other way around. Play around with your boat on a modest day and see what feels safe. I've also practiced hove-to drills on my H26. It does a very nice job of hoving-to and just seems to park itself in the middle of the lake. I was very pleasantly surprised. I did mine on a day with about 15 mph wind and the boat just got quite and squatted in the middle of the lake. That is also a nice heavy wind technique and one that can let you recover your wits if you get exhausted or overwhelmed.
Dave, Will and RGranger, thank you so much for your help. Now I have more homework and experiments to do with my H240.
Dave, thanks again for your help - I am impressed with all your experience. You helped a great deal a few months ago with my centerboard issue.
Dave, thanks again for your help - I am impressed with all your experience. You helped a great deal a few months ago with my centerboard issue.
RGranger, I assume that what you mean about weather helm being safer is that the boat will automatically round up if it begins to broach the water and it is less likely to be trapped on a lee shore. Am I right?