cabintop fairleads for higher pointing

[BOAT]

The biggest problem with using the genoa on the cabintop fairleads is the shape of the sail: The leech on a working jib is not as steep so you can run a working jib closer to the mast than you can the genny.

The genoa has a steep leech that comes to a big point at the clew and it gets in the way before you can get enough sail unrolled. When I have used the cabintop fairlead I had the track pushed as far forward as possible to prevent the clew from going too far aft -

[Dirko]

The PO opted out of the cabin top tracks - I didn't realize they were a standard item on an . Learning something new everyday.

I was actually thinking of mounting the tracks at the back of the cabin on the side above the window. I was hoping to use the whole Genny and fly it tighter when pointing. Thoughts?

[seahouse]

The PO opted out of the cabin top tracks - I didn't realize they were a standard item on an . Learning something new everyday.

Hey Dirko- the picture isn 't real clear (if that's your boat) , but aren't those tracks I see just aft of the topmost raccoon stripe? Is that what you are referring to?

-B.

[mastreb]

Pretty sure I see the stock tracks on the cabin-top

[Dirko]

Hey Dirko- the picture isn 't real clear (if that's your boat) , but aren't those tracks I see just aft of the topmost raccoon stripe? Is that what you are referring to?

-B.

Brian,
Good pickup. I snagged the picture off the internet - mine is out at the lake about 45 minutes away. The green stripe shows where my old polish buddy suggested installing tracks. (I'm slowly converting him to a Mac fan) I thought this might work - keep the sail outside the shrouds, to avoid the problems Boat brought up with having to furl or risk the clew interference, but tighter than when the sheet is run to the block on the cockpit track.

[BOAT]

Hey Dirko- the picture isn 't real clear (if that's your boat) , but aren't those tracks I see just aft of the topmost raccoon stripe? Is that what you are referring to?

-B.

Brian,
Good pickup. I snagged the picture off the internet - mine is out at the lake about 45 minutes away. The green stripe shows where my old polish buddy suggested installing tracks. (I'm slowly converting him to a Mac fan) I thought this might work - keep the sail outside the shrouds, to avoid the problems Boat brought up with having to furl or risk the clew interference, but tighter than when the sheet is run to the block on the cockpit track.

Yeah, that won't work. On the Genoa the furthest aft you can get it the better. That's not far enough aft for an unfurled 150

[Highlander]

Actually depends if u move the genny furler ahead on a bowsprit 3ft it gets a lot more wind less blanketed by the main , it is the perfect location

U can tie low stretch line to the two stanchions then attach a bock with a continuous line running forward around the front stanchion, back around the aft stanchion now run ur sheet through that block u can experiment with it using the continuous line to move the sheet block fwd or aft , or if u have some heavy wall 3/4-1" alum or steel pipe or sqr, tube tie it too the stanchions as said & give it a try without running up $$$$ easy peesy thats what I did before I went ahead with my 7ft roof genny tracks

J

[BOAT]

OH, well YEAH! If you can get the genny 3 feet in front of the boat it will not only make the boat faster but it will make the boat track better and handle a lot nicer too! Unlike Mr. HIGHLANDER who sails a Flying Dutchman Ghost Ship complete with full on Cutter rigging and a double spreader mast AND hardware that is about twice as heavy duty as we poor mortals use.

One of the best ways to sail a Genny is if you can get another 1/7th of length in front of the boat to pull it along. ESPECIALLY on the MAC because the MAC carries most of it's water ballast ahead of the keel.

The more canvas there is ahead of the keel the better the track (that's why a lot of the keel boats carry the keel all the way aft).

That take a lot of engineering that most of us mortals can't accomplish but it does indeed improve the point and also improves heavy wind performance.

[sirlandsalot]

Don' mean to hijack the thread, I use a 110 jib. I move the cars forward in light winds and back n strong wind. Am. Doing this right? I can not believe the amount of adjustments on that track. I just go all the way up or back.

What do you guys do with that car.

[BOAT]

I adjust the car by habit when I change the size of the headsail. If I make the sail smaller (furl it) I move the car more forward.

I don't do it all the time and I am not really picky about where the car is but if I decide it's going to be a day when I am only going to use 1/2 my genny I move the car all the way forward. It's not a "rule" but more of a "guideline" (like the Pirates Code).

When I am picky about the cars is when i am glued to the GPS trying to eek every last bit of speed out of 'boat' (usually because there is some bigger boat in front of me and I want to embarrass the skipper by passing him) or I'm in a hurry to get to the beer dock or or sumthing.. When I am picky I use the car to change the shape of the sail:

Forward to pull down, (close), the top of the sail and aft to spill out, (open), the top of the sail. This is of course very slight adjustments of only 5 or 6 inches in the car placement and I make the decision based on watching the wrinkles in the leach up near the head. In particular the roach section of the sail will flutter a tiny bit and you can move that flutter up and down the leech by adjusting the car. Most people don't even notice the flutter but tell tales on the leech can also show the air passing out of the end of the sail. The less turbulent it is the better. You want a nice straight smooth airflow exiting the end of the sail that will make the tell tales fly straight.

Experiment with your main sail by pulling down on the boom to see the effect on your tell tales - it's the same effect on the genny. Moving the genny car is a lot like using the vang on the boom.

[sirlandsalot]

Ok, so that dang little flutter that drives me nuts on the top of my sail might be that my car is wrong? I can see by the sun marks that the car was never adjusted by the PO.

Deoes that flutter also come from pointing to high?

[BOAT]

Sometimes it's just cuz the sails is old

[Highlander]

The Mac tracks r sh-t with only 6" adj, drill them out every three inches I need to measure that to be concise, but I believe thats what my 7ft cabin roof genny tracks r , Mmm now I,m giving out too much info !!

J

[BOAT]

No, not too much info really - I did complain about the track before I ever sailed the boat, but changed my mind as I will explain later, but in YOUR case I think it IS a BIG DEAL - those 3 inch adjustments would seem pretty critical to me too if I was flying two headsails and trying to balance both of them off each other and the main at the same time. No doubt Highlander, with a rig like yours having the tracks drilled to three inch increments instead of the standard 6 inch increments all us mortals have would be much better - especially in your case because your rig is reinforced with double spreaders and a backstay too. Your rig is tight enough to take advantage of a tiny little 3 inch adjustment.

When I first got boat I too noticed the tracks were not drilled enough (like I was accustomed on my A23) and I was going to drill them but when I noticed how light the rigging was and observed all the stay flex under sail I realized that Roger only drilled the tracks at 6 inches because the stock boat would never know the difference with all that slop in the rigging.

The rest of us with stock rigs probably would never get any real results from a 3 inch adjustment on our boats because the rigging on the stock MAC is so lightweight that an adjustment that small will just be lost in all the flex there is in the stock rigging. The factory rig is just not tight enough to take advantage of such small adjustments, and I do too much trailering so I don't want to change it - it is clearly a rigging system designed to make the trailering of the boat easy - and it does.

[bscott]

Don' mean to hijack the thread, I use a 110 jib. I move the cars forward in light winds and back n strong wind. Am. Doing this right? I can not believe the amount of adjustments on that track. I just go all the way up or back.

What do you guys do with that car.

Sight along the jib sheets imaginary extended line from the cabin top car up to the luff of the jib.
The proper starting point is when the car is positioned so the sheet is intersecting the luff at its mid point
Light air, car forward until all tell tails stream back together
Heavy air, move car aft to induce a twist at the top of the jib Tell tails stream back together.
Average jib car movement is about 6". The car is a gas pedal, forward = more power, aft = less power.

Bob