What's a cunningham?

[Stuart]

Read your book. It's great, understand most of it

 

[Michael McCann]

Cunningham

Stuart;A cunningham tensions the luff of the main. There is a cringle just above the tack cringle, and below the first reefing cringle along the luff of the main. I will be very elementary here, so please din't take offense, the luff is the edge of the sail next to the mast, or the front of the sail. You would tighten the cunningham when going to weather (beating). The vang is used more on off the wind sailing to keep the boom from rising up when the main sheet is eased, It can also be used to put shape in the main when the wind is light (rigid vang) by holding up the boom.Mike

 

[Doug T.]

Also...

Just a note: The cunningham and the main halyard both do the same thing: tension the luff of the mainsail. Depending on how you have your boat rigged, the cunningham may simply be more convenient to use. Also, since the cunningham pulls down, rather than up, it usually doesn't take as much force to get the same tensioning effect. (You're not working against the weight of the mainsail.)Some boats (like my h27) have a downhaul attached to the gooseneck, instead of (or in addition to) the cunningham. My gooseneck isn't fixed to the mast, but can slide up the mast track. When I raise my mainsail, I raise it enough to pull the gooseneck off it's resting point by 3 or 5 inches. I can then use the downhaul to tighten the luff.

 

[Stuart]

Thanks

Appreciate the insights. Glad you used very elementary language, I needed it.Going down this weekend to my boat

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

One more thing

This may sound simplistic, but people always ask, "Why not just pull tighter on the main halyard?" The answer is that you can't, because the sail is just too heavy as you pull it to the top of the main. The cunningham takes advantage of that weight by pulling downward. The block and tackle provides much more leverage to get things tight.