Mac 25 mainsail woes or ok

[SteveHughessails]

As my knowledge increases so does my concern lol. I am quite certain that our main sail is not from a MacGregor 25. It is slightly too large and quite fat. I have the halyard pulled tight and the outhaul pulled as tight as I dare. No way to get the wrinkles out spanning from the tack. A Cunningham may help but my concern is mostly with the depth. She’s quite fat. I tried tightening the backstay which indeed increased prebend but did little to help flatten the sail. Actually, I was fighting the tiller at 5 knots with a 10 degree heel. I didn’t like it at all. She would not settle in and go straight. Next time I go out I’m going to increase the length of the backstay and shorten the forestay.

What do you think of these pictures? We’re roughly 4 knots pinching a bit tight, we can’t flatten the sail anymore.

Also have a look at the leech, not good. No matter the position of the leech line, it only gets worse.

 

[kappykaplan]

Take the sail to your local sail loft.

 

[SteveHughessails]

No such thing here. :-(

 

[kappykaplan]

You could try Bacon Sails to see if they have a used sail for your boat.
Home - Bacon Sails

 

[dlochner]

The sails look a little tired and stretched. The lower section of the main looks pretty baggy and the leech should not curl in.

As much as we all hate to admit it, sails do have a finite life and do need to be periodically replaced. You may want to think about budgeting for a new mainsail.

I'm not a big fan of used sails. The reason used sails are available is they are approaching their end of life. Sometimes they are the only affordable option, but the money spent on an old used sail might be better spent on a new sail.

 

[RussC]

The bolt rope had shrunk causing the wrinkles but fixing that that won't help the belly much. looks like a factory sail to me.

 

[rgranger]

You mentioned The, halyard and The out Hall. Do you have a downhaul? If not, you should attach something that allows you to pull the gooseneck down.

 

[SteveHughessails]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the feedback. No downhaul, this is new to me. My reference to the Cunningham, I thought it would pull the luff down more; more so for reefing? I would describe the gooseneck on this vessel as rigid. Single bolt straight through the mast.

 

[rgranger]

I would describe the gooseneck on this vessel as rigid. Single bolt straight through the mast.

Your's might be different... I have sailed a Mac 25 before... a very old model. There was a thumb screw (pin-like thing) that you could lossen and adjust the height of the gooseneck.

I once purchased a new to me Hunter 26 and nothing I could do would correct the weather helm. At 6 kts... I was fighting the helm. I finally gave up and purchased a new main sail. BEST money I ever spent on the boat. I even took third in a regatta that year and the H26 is not know as a racing boat.

 

[dlochner]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the feedback. No downhaul, this is new to me. My reference to the Cunningham, I thought it would pull the luff down more; more so for reefing? I would describe the gooseneck on this vessel as rigid. Single bolt straight through the mast.

The boom downhaul and the Cunningham serve pretty much the same purpose, to tighten the mainsail luff and bring the draft forward. The downhaul will pull the boom and gooseneck down, the Cunningham will only tighten the luff and is used when the boom has a fixed gooseneck.

 

[SteveHughessails]

Agreed, I think the best thing we could do is replace the main. Safer if we do resell her too.
Thanks

 

[SteveHughessails]

The boom downhaul and the Cunningham serve pretty much the same purpose, to tighten the mainsail luff and bring the draft forward. The downhaul will pull the boom and gooseneck down, the Cunningham will only tighten the luff and is used when the boom has a fixed gooseneck.

Thanks Dave

 

[Davidasailor26]

I agree that the wrinkles in the luff look like they’re from a shrunken bolt rope. The curled leech looks like a leech line that’s too tight, but if loosening the leech line doesn’t fix the curl the sail must be stretched too far. If you had access to a sailmaker they could fix the bolt rope pretty easily, but the stretched belly is tougher.

 

[SteveHughessails]

So far the only sails I have found are almost at par with the cost of the vessel. Lol

 

[colemj]

Given that the M25 logo is on the sail, and it is old and faded, my bet is it is a M25 sail, because I don't think anyone would go to the trouble of putting another boat's sail on it and transferring the logo.

For sure the bolt rope has shrunk. Loosening that will help some, but it really does look like a tired old sail. I think it would be throwing money away to have it recut.

Edit: Are the battens in it? It doesn't look like they are. If they are missing, putting them in could help a lot.

Mark

 

[SteveHughessails]

Hi Mark
There are no battens, no batten pockets. That logo is black felt pen.

 

[Davidasailor26]

There are no battens, no batten pockets

I wouldn’t be so sure. What I circled look like batten pockets to me.

 

[Davidasailor26]

What do you think of these pictures? We’re roughly 4 knots pinching a bit tight, we can’t flatten the sail anymore.

The sail doesn’t look like it’s backwinding, despite pinching. I wonder if just fixing the shrunken bolt rope issue would be enough to let the sail go to full hoist and fix 80% of the problems (combined with putting battens in those pockets). It’s certainly not a new sail, and replacing with new would be a big upgrade, but maybe it would still be serviceable with those relatively minor changes?

 

[SteveHughessails]

That’s funny, I would have bet money there were no pockets. I’ve had this sail out so many times. I’ll have to have a closer look next time it’s out.

The Hunter 240’s main, easy to see the batten pockets. They’re quite large with a closing Velcro flap.