How high off bow genny tack?

Clydo

.
May 28, 2013
363
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
In resolving my non furling issue guy up my mast finally decided halyard wrap problem
(as someone on the list stated). After up mast couple times cleaning swivel etc decided
after looking at Schaffer installation manual needed to raise genny. He eyeballed
height and now tack about 48" off deck. Unfurls and furls great however last time
out in 25 knots seemed like I had more heel and had to reef sooner on my 110.
Before my problem thought about two and half feet off deck for over 2 yrs. Had good visibility
before. Sailmaker told me 48" not too bad?? Question is about what height do you have on 110 or so genny? Thanks for any answers.

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
ILEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
We only have the factory 135 genny. It's a deck sweeper. Doesn't even clear the lifelines.

When it's time for a new one I plan to go with a high foot so I can have better visibility. That means I will loose some sail area but I am good with that.
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
Clyde, JK, are those factory sails- or at least factory specs??? I always wonder why, when sail shape seems to be the goal, why do sails droop and chaffe over lifelines. My 116 jib did, but I turned around the bow lifelines so I can unhook them and get a better sail shape.
 
Jul 14, 2015
840
Catalina 30 Stillhouse Hollow Marina
That is a long way off deck. Mine is about 2 feet, and I thought that was alot.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
Here is a pic of us under sail from a recent trip to Cat Island in the Bahamas. If you zoom in near the bow you can see the bow rail/life lines pushing the bottom forward edge up over the rail. This is distorting the shape of the sail. It also is very difficult to see around.

This is a factory original sail.
 

Attachments

Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Clyde, JK, are those factory sails- or at least factory specs??? I always wonder why, when sail shape seems to be the goal, why do sails droop and chaffe over lifelines. My 116 jib did, but I turned around the bow lifelines so I can unhook them and get a better sail shape.

Headsail design is optimized for UPWIND performance. In this regard the will be trimmed in tight. For any expected sail area they will be as tall as possible as opposed to width (high aspect), and as close to the deck as possible. When going upwind, the sail with never touch the lines or rail. Like of the spory-ish new Catalina 275. When cracked off a bit and reaching, absolute sail shape is less important and some sail on the pulpit and lifelines is an acceptable compromise. Any deeper and its spinnaker time!

 

pateco

.
Aug 12, 2014
2,207
Hunter 31 (1983) Pompano Beach FL
Here is a pic of us under sail from a recent trip to Cat Island in the Bahamas. .
How long did it take you to get to Cat, and where did you stay? The inlet at Hawks Nest scares me with a sail boat. Tide would need to be just right.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Here is a pic of us under sail from a recent trip to Cat Island in the Bahamas. If you zoom in near the bow you can see the bow rail/life lines pushing the bottom forward edge up over the rail. This is distorting the shape of the sail. It also is very difficult to see around.

This is a factory original sail.
When reaching, low clew, high-aspect sails like this will twist off terribly when eased. You can see in your picture how much more twist your headsail has vs your main. Those should match. Moving your genny cars forward and then trimming on slightly will often help this a lot. There is not a lot more you can do with a low-clew sail when reaching. Race boats will often switch out to a specialized reaching headsail called a 'jib-top' before going spinnaker.
 
Last edited:
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
How long did it take you to get to Cat, and where did you stay? The inlet at Hawks Nest scares me with a sail boat. Tide would need to be just right.
We alternated between Old Bight and New Bight. If the wind was more south we went to Old Bight. More north or dead east then New Bight because that is where more of the stuff we wanted to do was located. We left from Monument Beach in George Town. It took about 8-9 hours to sail over.

The Father Jerome hermitage is worth the trip. The people were really friendly. And we had a 3 mile long beach pretty much all to ourselves in Old Bight.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
When reaching, low clew, high-aspect sails like this will twist off terribly when eased. You can see in your picture how much more twist your headsail has vs your main. Those should match. Moving your genny cars forward and then trimming on slightly will often help this a lot. There is not a lot more you can do with a low-clew sail when reaching. Race boats will often switch out to a specialized reaching headsail called a 'jib-top' before going spinnaker.
Thanks for the tip. I will give that a try.
 

pateco

.
Aug 12, 2014
2,207
Hunter 31 (1983) Pompano Beach FL
We alternated between Old Bight and New Bight. If the wind was more south we went to Old Bight. More north or dead east then New Bight because that is where more of the stuff we wanted to do was located. We left from Monument Beach in George Town. It took about 8-9 hours to sail over.

The Father Jerome hermitage is worth the trip. The people were really friendly. And we had a 3 mile long beach pretty much all to ourselves in Old Bight.
The hermitage is awesome. I have spent a lot of time at Fernandez Bay near New Bight, Hawks Nest on the south end, and Shanna's Cove up in Orange Creek north of Arthurs town. Great Island, I just have never had the time to sail there from here in S Florida.
 

KZW

.
May 17, 2014
831
Catalina 310 #307 Bluewater Bay, FL
JK,
What is hanging off of your bow anchor?
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
JK,
What is hanging off of your bow anchor?
haha. It is a little unsightly. It's a anchor trip line. It is only about 2 feet long with a float. If I ever foul my anchor and need to use a trip line to get it free I only have to dive down to this trip line and pass a line through it. It also helps me spot my anchor when diving on it or checking it with a lookey bucket. Normally it gets put in the anchor locker but we must have forgot on this trip.