Newport 17 loose foot.....

[dansaintamour]

Hi, thinking about sailing now in frozen Michigan. I still have lots to work out on my boat. It has a loose footed sail, no battens or boom vang. The boom is a foot or more lonter than the sail and the traveler is off a hobie.

Here is what I have in mind. I would like to cut some moulding pieces to have battons in the sail. I would like to attach the foot to the boom like a normal sail and cut the boom down to proper size. Then I would like to attach a boom vang. I have a nice car
for a traveler that will atach to an I beam for a traveler systems, then in my dreams I would like a furling jib.

Any suggestions before I start cutting? Thanks Again, Dan

 

[simpsoned]

Does your sail have batten pockets? If not, you will need to have them sewn into the sail at specific locations based on the sail design...on my N30, I have them roughly at the quarters along the leech...or if you want, you could do a full batten main...Depending on where your traveler is located in relation to the boom (1/3rd from the aft end?) you may not need a vang for your rig. If it is over the cabin top, just in front of the hatch, then it is redundant for cruising, but you may want to add one for racing. I did mine with a couple of fiddle blocks from Garhauer and rigged the line myself...works fine. I have to admit that I stole the design from a Harken rig, but did it for about 1/4 the price they were asking. As far as going from an open footed main to a closed foot with bolt rope, that is best done by a professional. They will have to sew in a bolt rope to pull along the boom channel and attach a slug to guide it. You can cut the boom down if you need to, or just leave it a little long (my old sails were baggy because they stretched out and I wish my boom was about 6 inches longer to take out the stretch, but alas, I sprung for new sails and now they fit).
On your traveler, is the car a typical "T" Track? Is so you can get parts from Schaefer or Harken. I would mount it with a double set of blocks at the end of the track for mechanical advantage. Mine is a single block at the end of the track and sometimes it is a real b***h to adjust under sail, especially when I need to pull it to windward.
Hope this helps...

 

[dansaintamour]

Thanks for the reply from a long while ago, I took your advise and mostly left the boat alone. Its been a blast sailing it. I added cup holders and had her out on 8 lakes this year.