New Main for the 260?

[Mark]

Loose foot and full battens. Every quote is coming back with this recommendation.So what are your thoughts?

 

[Tom2909]

What is their reason for the loose foot? (nm)

NM

 

[Jeff Peltier]

Loose foot allows

for easier, more uniform sail shape throughout the range. I just switched sails after six years and went that rout. I did stick with just the top 2 battens being full length, but all battons are tapered now. I went with UK's pentex and tapedrive to minimize stretch. With traditional dacron, full battons all the way down would probable reduce the stretch problem.I do note that I'm now about even with the S2's with oversized mains that last year were pulling away from me. I'll be sharing info on my articulated bow sprit (version 4) shortly.

 

[Mark]

The reason?

Is mostly for the reasons Jeff has given.Sail shape of course is the reason your yacht goes forwards and the better shape the more speed.Four full battens and a loose foot should mean the sail designer can produce a sail that will work a lot more efficiently than the standard 260 sail.But!Part of the reason I asked was for I was hoping more people would jump on board and get involved for sail shape effects "all" yachts. And partly because; well with a 260 does it really matterall that most when in reality we have a hull speed and most importantly the ability of the trimmer to set the sails spot on for max result.Anyway perhaps this is not the right forum for discussing sail shape, design and build.

 

[Jeff Peltier]

Here are some opinions

After just switching. Unless your racing, you may not note more than a suttle difference. While racing, I have noted I can point a couple of degrees higher and slightly faster. I can run with full sails in more winds without reefing. This is probably partly because I can better control where and how deep the draft is and partly because the old sail was stretched to the point that I couldn't get the draft where I wanted it and therefore tended to round up earlier. The original sails were no doubt a compromise with cost being more important than performance as this boat was never ment to be a performance racer.