What did I do wrong?

[Snotter]

I got to use my new 135% Genny for the 2nd time this weekend. While tacking in 10 knot winds the sail got caught on a spreader and got back-winded. After hearing a heart-breaking ripping sound I looked up to see the leech ripped for more than half the lenghth of the sail (~750 sq ft). Now I know why they say sailing is a rich man's hobby.

I will go bust if I keep ripping the leech out of my sail each time I tack. Hell, I'll go bust even if it happens once or twice a season. Can anyone offer some advice to keep my leech attached to the sail.

I have a Morgan 41 O.I. The spreaders are very large ovals with very thick triangular sections of aluminum welded to the ends. The stays fit in a slot in the apex of the triangles. While the mast was down last summer, I put new boots on the spreader tips. Unfortunately, the spreaders do not accomodate any boot manufactured. I wound up buying the biggest boots I could find and taping the hell out of them with rigging tape. I used wire ties under the tape but I made sure the sharp edge of the tie was orientated inboard. However, I will be going aloft to inspect the boots. I do not anticipate finding anything amiss.

It is going to cost 164$ just to ship the friggen sail one way to Bohndell's in Rockport, Maine.

 

[Maine Sail]

How did you tack..

How did you tack? I know this sounds like a dumb question but many folks often begin sheeting in the sail before the wind has tacked it from port to stbd or stbd to port. If you do this you will run a significantly higher risk of snagging the sail.

You should release the leeward sheet as the luff of the sail begins to luff, collapse & lose wind. Only when the boat has turned through the wind should you even consider sheeting in the new leeward sheet.

DO NOT begin to pull on the new leeward sheet until the WIND has moved the leech from one side of the boat to the other. Many boaters do this and many boaters snag on radar or spreaders. It adds nothing to your tack times and actually can detract from any last bit of remaining lift on the former tack.

The sail will tack itself you do not need to help it by "pulling it" across the deck and in fact you'll only usually hurt it.

In many years of boating, with overlapping genoa's, I have never snagged a spreader. I have also never snagged a radome. Let the wind tack the sail and once the leech & clew are over then you can sheet it in. Let the wind do the work..

Also what type of spreader protectors do you have??

 

[Tim R.]

First of all, good choice on sailmakers. Bohndell's does excellent work. As far as the spreader is concerned, there must be some type of sharp edge that is causing this. Go up the stick with some cottom balls and rub them all over the ends of the spreader and your shrouds to see what may be causing the problem. You may have a meat hook near the spreader tip.

 

[moehorenfeldt]

You can get a pair of circular plastic discs which fit around the shrouds and sit on the edge of the spreaders. When the sail hits the outboard edge of the spreaders, the disks fend it of them and help the sail to "roll" past the spreader. I use and like them. They also minimize chafeing of the sail.

 

[bffatcat]

ripped leach

When you tack dont release the sheet until the sail breaks and fills on the other side. do this
and you wont have any trouble. ? Arent there any sailmakers in your area. why pay 300 in
round trip freight/

 

[Ross]

Re: ripped leach

I always allow the jib to pull the bow through the wind and trim the jib before the jib fills completely. Letting the jib fly when the bow swings through the wind allows the jib to shift sides without restraint.

 

[Joe]

couple of suggestions here. Since technique has already been mentioned a few times I'll leave that be, however, until you perfect your technique, don't be hesitant to send a crew forward to help pull the sail around the shrouds. They just need to stand by the mast and help the sail across... Hell, if it was me and it kept hanging up, I'd roll it up to 100% before tacking, then let it out on the other side.

Since you've sent your sail out already, ask him to install a set of spreader patches on the part of the sail that seems to hang up most often, for just a little more insurance. Even though their main purpose is to reduce abrasion when the sail is sheeted in tightly against the spreader tip, I think a secondary benefit is to allow the sail to slide off the tip if you've backwinded the sail too much before releasing it on the tack. Also, I think those roller things on the shrouds work pretty well. I see boats that use "deck sweeper" genoas put them on the lifelines where the clew and foot can sometimes hang up.

So..... 1. Refine your technique when tacking. 2. Roll the sail in or get some help from your crew. 3 Fix yours spreaders and add the rollers. 4 Protect the sail with spreader patches.
Then you'll have it all covered.... heh, heh.

 

[Benny]

Spreader boots.

You have a sharp edge up there. Not even a sloppy tack should result in a tear. Your installation of spreader boots did not achieve desired results. Get a Leather Boot kit ($70) and send someone up the mast.

 

[Snotter]

Re: Spreader boots.

There are some great suggestions here. I will be hunting down shroud rollers and I will be asking Bohndell to install some abraision patches. Benny mentioned a leather boot kit. Where do I buy that?

The suggestions on technique has me confused. I would think that if I leave the sail sheeted flat (45 degrees into the wind) and if I allow it to back wind (letting the sail push me through the eye of the wind) that would increase my risk of another tear. Maine Sail, I followed your technique for many years of hap-free sailing. I wonder if a bulbuous spreader boot has enough friction to grab the leech.

I live in North Alabama. It is a 6 hour drive to the nearest reputable sail maker. I've first done bussiness with Bohndells in the early 80's when I lived in Camden Maine. They are a first-rate loft. They've always saved me money. I will bite the bullet on the shipping.

Since I will be without the new sail for a while, I will put the smaller jib on; it doesn't overlap the spreader so I will have time to search for the rollers and the leather boot kit. However, while shopping for boots last summer, I wasn't too impressed with what was out there. I was intimidated with a custom installation while the mast was in the parking lot. I can't imagine doing the leather work while swinging on a bosun's chair and trying to hanging outboard. The spreaders are much longer than my legs.

 

[Ron20324]

If you keep the leeward sheet tight while tacking, the sail backwinds, there's increased tension all around, and like even an anchor chain, the weakest link is gonna give. That would be the sail.

I broke a spreader tip and put off getting a new one- put it off, that is, until my spinnaker raked across the tip and cost me another $200 for my procrastination. I wish I had a picture, but later my slip-neighbor- Jimm- was already up his mast, so we tied him to my halyard also and pulled him halfway over to my boat to change my spreader tip- and add a roller. Truely a Kodak moment.

 

[Snotter]

It turns out that the UPS charges from Huntsville, AL to Rockport, ME was only 64$. 164$ is what Bohndell charges me to ship the sail from their loft to me. The shipping wht was 67 #'s.

I did an initial google search on "shroud rollers" and "spreader rollers" and nothing popped up that looked like the little wheels that ride just above the spreaders on the shrouds. Can anyone recommend some key words?

 

[peterbud]

It turns out that the UPS charges from Huntsville, AL to Rockport, ME was only 64$. 164$ is what Bohndell charges me to ship the sail from their loft to me. The shipping wht was 67 #'s.

I did an initial google search on "shroud rollers" and "spreader rollers" and nothing popped up that looked like the little wheels that ride just above the spreaders on the shrouds. Can anyone recommend some key words?

look in the West catalog under either jib rollers or sail rollers they are there