@DrJudyB
Are you familiar with the line-only self tacking system I saw in Oregon? Of course, you didn't see it personally...
Just want to know if you've seen one and have any reference to it? The ones I saw on C34s had metal tracks on the foredeck right in front of the mast.
Hi Stu,
I might not have seen that particular boat, of course, but I’ve seen many, many rope only ST systems in person and online, and they all compromised the shape of the jib. Compared to contemporary system with curved traveler tracks in front of the mast base, they were poor performers,
the geometry of an all line system can’t do what a curved travel track can. Rope bridle ST systems are curved the wrong way and that makes it impossible to to get really good sail shape. Rope bridle St jibs work, but only “sort of”. With a curve traveler track system that has the approximate j dimension as the radius of the curve, you can do much more to get the sail flat and not have a hook at the clew, no matter what angle of attack
you’ve set it for.
Club footed jobs work well, but the clutter up the foredeck.
Here’s a webpage about self tacking jibs that I put together about 15 or 20 years ago. It shows what the state of the art was back then. It has lots of pictures of sailboats on the San Francisco delta, at the stockton sailing club. I am quite familiar with the self tacking systems that come as original equipment on many high end boats these days, and they work quite well. Usually they are complemented with a cruising code zero for use in very light wind.
The curved track aftermarket systems can do a similar nice job on a lot of boats, if the track is wide enough and the center of effort balances well with the mainsail.
Judy
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