Tell tale question for you Don

[Ross in Tampa]

Don,

I just purchased some tell tales for the jib. My jib has never had them. They are the red/green yarn type with adhesive disks. I will be installing them this weekend.

My question is this... I also need to replace the streaming tell tales on my main. The ones that were once on there were sewn on. Can I use this type of tell tale on the leach of my main?

Thanks in advance.

Ross in Tampa
1979 Oday "Lola"

 

[sailingdog]

Ross-

Generally a mainsail has tell tales on the leech, where on a jib/genoa, they're set a bit aft of the luff. Generally, yarn tell tales are used for the jib in pairs, port and starboard. To make it easier to identify which is which, it is common to mount one set a few inches above the other, so that even if you can't see the colors, you can tell how they are flying.

For the main, the telltales are made of a single mylar tape attached to the leech edge. While you could use the red/green yarn ones on the main, they aren't really the best ones to use on it.

 

[Joe]

tell tale question specifically answered...

Ross, here's a link to a great page for everything you'll need to know about telltales. Where to mount them and how to use them.

http://www.wb-sails.fi/news/95_11_Tellingtales/Tellingtales.html

Regarding your question on using the yarn type for the mainsail leech: I'd prefer using the red nylon ribbon type for that application. Check this out:

http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d324000/e322958.asp

I've seen them at west marine too.

It's very hard to get that sticky disc to behave on uneven surfaces. If you do use the yarn, just tie it through the the little hole by the batten pocket. Oh, and make sure they're all the same color... preferably red.

 

[sailingdog]

Of the telltales that Joe linked to, you want the Ronstan Leach TellTales for the mainsail.

 

[Ross in Tampa]

Ok, so are we saying yes or no to the question? I can imagine that they would not be as efficient on the main. But was curious.

thanks,
Ross

 

[sailingdog]

Don,

I just purchased some tell tales for the jib. My jib has never had them. They are the red/green yarn type with adhesive disks. I will be installing them this weekend.

Yes, the red/green yarn type with adhesive disks are fine for the jib. That's what they're designed for.

My question is this... I also need to replace the streaming tell tales on my main. The ones that were once on there were sewn on. Can I use this type of tell tale on the leach of my main?

Thanks in advance.

Ross in Tampa
1979 Oday "Lola"

No, don't use the red/green yarn tell tales for the main. Use the ronstan leach tell tales instead. They're designed for this purpose.

Any questions??

 

[Don Guillette]

Telltales

Ross: Just slap them on the main and jib any way you can
and use whatever material you want. Make it easy on your self and get the stick on ones from West Marine.

You need three sets of two each on the jib and three on the main - you can get away with two on the main. The most important one for the jib is the middle ones and the most important one for the main is the top one.

Every boat I go on I carry a roll of green tape that I normally use to tie up tomato plants!! I'll use anything available from yarn to VCR tape. About 1/2 the boats I go on do not have them and about 1/2 the middle to the back of the pack racers don't have them either. How these folks trim their sails is beyond me. I have a hard time getting 100% out of the sails without them and I know what I'm looking for.

Once you get them attached I assume you know how to read them? If you can't read them don't bother with them

Telltales are absolutely the most important sail trim indicator on the boat. No non-electric devise has been developed that approaches the sensitivity and effectiveness of telltales on the main and jib. I devote almost 7 pages to reading telltales.

Here's a telltale question for you mates - suppose your pointing in flat water or trying to cross another boat and the windward jib telltales starts to flip. What would you do to correct the situation??

 

[sailingdog]

head up a bit if sailing close hauled... or trim the sail in a bit...

 

[Ross in Tampa]

Re: Telltales

thanks Don.

 

[Don Guillette]

Flipping Telltale

Come on mates - readership of this forum can't be down that much and we all might learn something from the answers so give it a shot and tell me what you'd do in this every day situation you all have encountered.

 

[sailingdog]

Don-

Check post #8.

 

[Don Guillette]

Post #8

I did and that is the wrong answer! I'll explain the WHY later after I get some more comments. If you have my book, The Sail Trim Users Guide, refer to the 1st paragraph on page 33.

 

[sailingdog]

Hmm... don't have your book... guess I should put it on my christmas list.

 

[Glory Daze]

I'm trying to cross another boat in flat water and the telltale begins to flip up I take it up a little higher and cross with no problem

 

[Ken Prichard]

Nothing

I have the book!

 

[Don Guillette]

Telltale Flipping

Ken wins the cigar!!

The answer is you do NOTHING and here's why. There are 2 factors at work on a sail boat and they are lift and drag. Drag is a killer to speed. Unfortunately, it can't be eliminated but it can be minimized. There is a thing called the lift/drag curve. I don't want to go into it because it is boring and I don't really understand it anyway but I do know how to make it work for me.

When the windward telltale is streaming what you want to do is push it a little more until you get the windward telltale to start to flip up and down every couple of seconds. When that happens your boat is at the highest point on the lift/drag curve where drag is at its lowest thus squeezing that last litttle bit of power out of the boat. In effect, she is giving you everything she has to give. If you do anything to eliminate the flipping effect your losing speed - almost like letting off on the accelerator.

 

[Don Guillette]

Book & Chart

SailingDog: Good idea for your Xmas list!! You won't be sorry. In fact, I guarantee if you digest all the material in my book and chart you will know more about sail trim than 75% of the sailors worldwide. If you don't believe me you could try this type of question on your sailing friends and dock neighbors - "what is the difference between twist and draft depth and which controls are used to adjust both? What settings do you use for twist and draft depth on your mainsail and jib for varoius points of sail in 10 knots of wind?".

Do you think your sailing buddies would have those answers on the tip of their tongue? I doubt it but more importantly wouldn't you like to know those answers? Obvoiusly, any sailor would.

I look forward to recieving your order. Order now through sailboatowners.com while your thinking about it. It costs a little bit more than a 12 pack of Sam Adams. With the book and chart at least you get to keep them as we all know what happens to the Sam Adams!!!