The mainsail on my 1994 H29.5 is original, and it's long past its prime. I plan to replace it over the winter, and am considering getting a loose-footed main. Are there any disadvantages to this? Will it work okay with my jiffy-reefing and lazy jacks?
Loose-Footed Mainsail Questions
- Thread starter tlowum
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No disadvantages. That is what is what I replaced last year on my Hunter 31 main sail. It will work with your jiffy-reefing and lazy jacks.
I have seen booms bent beyond repair and the slug at the clew rip the end of the boom apart after switching from a standard "captive" foot to a loose foot. That was caused by moving all the load to the end of the boom, where it was spread.down the length before. I believe they were all older kenyon booms though, and the bent booms were mid-boom sheeted...stephen Penny said:
That said I made the same switch this spring and have no regrets. I have a z-spar rig.
No problems
It's your sailmaker's job to be sure that your new sail has the right rigging for your reefing and tuning controls. Loose footed, or not makes no difference to these rigging/control issues.
Our change to loose-footed was painless.
It's your sailmaker's job to be sure that your new sail has the right rigging for your reefing and tuning controls. Loose footed, or not makes no difference to these rigging/control issues.
Our change to loose-footed was painless.
Re: No problems
When I replaced my main at the start of the season, i replaced it with a loose footmain. It has worked very well providing better adjustability for different wind conditions. I have three marks on the boom; low, medium, high. Light winds (<10 knots), medium (10-20), high (>20). Now having used it and learned to adjust it, I love it.
When I replaced my main at the start of the season, i replaced it with a loose footmain. It has worked very well providing better adjustability for different wind conditions. I have three marks on the boom; low, medium, high. Light winds (<10 knots), medium (10-20), high (>20). Now having used it and learned to adjust it, I love it.
Have to think those bent booms were caused by the mid-boom sheeting. We switched to a loose-footed main about six years ago. No issues with sailhandling, and the sail actually sets better because there's no straight edge at the bottom for it to have to attach to. The slot between the foot and the boom is also great for "mail-slot" spinnaker drops: bringing the spinnaker through there & down the main hatch avoids lots of things it might get snagged on.
Any damage to a boom would not be caused by a loose footed sail. Virtually the entire load points on all sails is carried by the clew, head and tack. The loading along the length of the foot and luff is minimal. This is the reason radial cut sails are so good. The radial panels of the sail are aligned with the loading forces on the sail which 'radiate' out from the three corners. North Sails builds their 3DL sails on a mold with this same radiating yarn pattern for the same reason.
It can, and sometimes does happen, but only with small diameter booms that are insufficient for the load. Most of these that failed were probably also owner converted from end boom to mid boom sheeting. When Bob from Neil Pryde was out at my boat measuring for my new loose footed main he told me he has seen it happen, and on some (older) boats won't sell them a loose footed main unless they essentially sign a waiver (aka acknowledge the risk via email). So it is common enough that a sail maker looks to make sure your boom will support the change.Alan said:
I stopped by one SBO members boat on long island this spring that was replacing his old kenyon boom with a new one because the old one bent. The new design was noticeably better constructed, and unlikely to suffer the same problem again.
Loose footed mains do put higher loads on parts of the boom than an older traditional footed main does. This can damage some older booms, but most booms designed and manufactured in the last 20-25 years are built with a loose footed main in mind.
Do some YouTube searching for volvo ocean race boom break. There are a number of examples of these guys snapping their unbelievably expensive carbon fiber booms out in the middle of the Atlantic, and every one of them you can see the clew and the mid boom attached main sheet pulled too hard in opposite directions and the boom broke.
So yes it can happen, it (boom strength and design) is something you should check out before you convert your sail, but most of us here won't experience a problem from making the switch.
Very interesting Rich. Can you elaborate on the markings? They're for the clew position I presume. How does the boom vang fit in to the picture for vang sheeting?
Thanks much, Geohan
Yes, the markings are for clew positions. You can use different colored perm markers, black, or electrical tape (I have a combo roll of 5 different colors that I could have used but did not).
The best way to setup your position marks is by going out there and making adjustments and to observe the effecets on heel and VMG (or just straight speed). When the wind is up, you want a flatter main so take the bellyout with moving the clew out. When the wind is lighter, you may want to add more belley for more power, but too much may decrease efficiency. That is why you need to experiment with what works on your boat. Keep a log of the apparent wind speed/direction, your adjustments and observations. Keep the main sheet set in one position and only change the clew position. It does not take much of a slide of the clew slug to change the shape significantly.
I have a soft vang that I made myself out a couple of blocks (fiddle with cam cleat on boom bail end of the vang, and a line block with becket on the maststep attachment point) and 5/16th line. It is nothing fancy but keeps the boom postioned correctly for running. It does not affect the boom when reaching.
One small correction and an addition...
When I said to leave your mainsheet alone, I meant to say: maintain the same boom angle. Moving the clew will change the boom angle. Sliding the boom slug toward the mast will lengthen your effective leach length and will require pulling in the mainsheet just a bit to adjust counter luffing.
I also have a small block at the end of my boom. I run a line from the clew through the block and tie off to a cleat about a foot from the end of the boom. You may need two blocks (one on the clew and one on the boom end with a becket) to make the adjustment of the clew position easier. Adding a cheek block with becket to the end of the boom is not a bad way to go. The mainsail on my Tanzer 26 (I still have have her in my fleet) is not huge and am able to make the adjustments with only a single block at the end of the boom (sometimes it can be tough). However, your mainsail may require more leverage.
When I said to leave your mainsheet alone, I meant to say: maintain the same boom angle. Moving the clew will change the boom angle. Sliding the boom slug toward the mast will lengthen your effective leach length and will require pulling in the mainsheet just a bit to adjust counter luffing.
I also have a small block at the end of my boom. I run a line from the clew through the block and tie off to a cleat about a foot from the end of the boom. You may need two blocks (one on the clew and one on the boom end with a becket) to make the adjustment of the clew position easier. Adding a cheek block with becket to the end of the boom is not a bad way to go. The mainsail on my Tanzer 26 (I still have have her in my fleet) is not huge and am able to make the adjustments with only a single block at the end of the boom (sometimes it can be tough). However, your mainsail may require more leverage.
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