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magnetic wrote: 1. At the bottom of the luff of the mainsail there is a large chromed cringle; do you guys normally ensure that this is looped onto the ramshorn, or do you sail loose-footed? I have tried both, and the shape of the sail is very very different - specifically, if I hook it over the ramshorn, the luff gets taught long before the sail reaches the top of the mast and the sail itself is a lot flatter.

HUH

Speak English, man, you're in America

Oh, wait a minute, no you're not

Rick

Magnetic,

Supply some photo's It seems the nomenclature is throwing this board off. Seriously, pictures would make it easier to answer your question.

I believe what you are referring to is for reefing (I read your post on that theory), but a nice photograph would clear this up.

Ray

Do not forget you need some room at the mast top so as when the sail eventually streches you will have room to allow for this also as Terry says mainsheet & vang must be loose so as the sail tack can be tightened all the way this is where the Cunningham comes in very nicely for trimming the main in heavier weather
J

Fxwg80hd wrote:

mastreb wrote: Mainsail not going all the way is just wasted mast

Is this the gap from the top you are talking about? That is as high as I can raise my sail. Pretty sure the rigging would not allow proper sail tension if the sail went much closer to the top.

Hello,

I'm a sales rep for Hyde Sails. There's a very good reason for "wasting" a couple of inches at the top of the mast.

It's required by the geometry of the mainsail halyard, the headboard, and the back side of the mast. In a nut shell, the halyard has to be almost parallel to the mast, or else the mainsail binds going up and down.

Typically, with simple masthead fittings, you need to leave a couple of inches above the head of the mainsail at the top of the mast . That ensures that the halyard is almost parallel to the mast above the headboard.

If you pull the head of the mainsail higher, the halyard will be at too much of angle to the mast, somewhere in excess of 10 or 15 degrees. That causes the headboard to compress the slides towards the mast. The slides would bind and it would be very hard to hoist the mainsail.

Hope this clarifies,
Judy B

Welcome Judy,

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but what brought you to this site so late in life March 2011, we've been around a lot longer than that. Please add your expertise anytime.

Ray