Loose footed main

[Royce]

Would a loose footed main perform better, beside being easier to tie up a reef, is there an advantage? If I change to a loose footed main, how do I attach the outhaul to the boom?Thanks

 

[Jim Quibell]

Loose Footed Mainsail

Go to Sail Trim Forum archives - posting 01/26 - loose footed mainsail. Your questions have been answered many times over in the various forums on this great site. Take a few minutes and search. Cheers.

 

[Tim Stodola]

loose footed

Hi Royce, Thanks for visitng the Doyle Forum.Just a couple brief notes for you. Yes there are some performance advantages to a loose footed main. You can make minute adjustments to your outhaul, because the sail is not constrained by the foot being attached to the boom. You will notice that the majority of todays race boats incorporate a loose footed main. If you have an outhaul car, you simply attach the sail at the tack and clew as before. If not, your sail should have a slug or slide at the clew, or as we do on most race boats, a web strap that goes around the boom and through the clew ring, to take the clew load.Plus the loose foot makes installing and removing the sail so much easier.More and more cruisers are opting for a loose footed main as well.

 

[MArk]

Paging Dr. Manfred Curry

Hi Royce,Dr. Curry did an extensive study of loose-footed mains in the 1920s. His ideas led to the 1930 AC boat 'Enterprise'. His tests showed an advantage to sealing the gap between the boom and the sail, hence the Enterprise's sail foot batten and "Park Avenue" boom with sail tracks running side-to-side. Later he recommended filling the gap with canvas. The canvas was later dropped because there were so many other factors affecting sail efficiency. Besides, a tight-footed sail with a fat foot has almost the same properties. A loose-footed sail with the same area and geometry will perform better going downwind but not point as well in light air due to slippage (not a problem when heeled). A new sail having a larger roach, longer battens and better depth control will more than make up the difference.IMNHO, don’t take a scissors to a perfectly good sail. Cutting the foot off won’t make it run faster. On the other hand, a completely reengineered sail will (more than likely) win more races.Happy (fusion powered) sails *_/),MArk

 

[ted]

Royce, I just put a loose foot on my boat.

I hated by old footed sail. Never could get the outhaul to respond like I wanted it to. I just bought a new triradial loose foot main. For outhaul control I attached a travaler track and car to the boom. I ran the outhaul control lines inside the boom to internal triple blocks giving 6-1 purchase. I exit the bottom of the boom just in front of where the the main block attaches with a Ronstan swivle cleat. Way cool. On the front side of the car I attached a stout bungee cord and tensioned the bungee to a eye strap in the middle of the boom. This provides forward tension on the car at all times. So when I blow the cleat in light air the car snaps forward giving instant fullness in the main.Go for it you will love it.Ted