MacGregorSailors.com

Hello to all of you ... and some questions for the ones who may contribute ..

I am in the process of purchasing a second hand cruising chute for my 26X. Obviously one of the main points is the relation between the luff lenght of the cruising chute and the distance between the mast block (where the headsail will be fixed via the halyard) and the tack block at the bow ( where the sail tack will be fixed via the tack line)
Then the questions..
1) what is exactly the sail luff lenght in a cruising chute? Is the straight line between the headsail and sail tack or the rounded outer peripheric luff line as the cruising chutes have? ( or none of above , may be a third alternative?)

2) I intend to to use the bow anchor roller to direct the tack line ; what would be the advisable distance between the sail tack and this bow roller to allow for tensioning and shaping the sail of its possible sail angles?

Thks for your attention to my post and even more to the ones replying !

bonati wrote:1) what is exactly the sail luff lenght in a cruising chute? Is the straight line between the headsail and sail tack or the rounded outer peripheric luff line as the cruising chutes have? ( or none of above , may be a third alternative?)

I believe it's a straight line between the head and tack fittings, similar to leach and foot lengths. There are other measurements to describe the curve in those lines.

bonati wrote:2) I intend to to use the bow anchor roller to direct the tack line ; what would be the advisable distance between the sail tack and this bow roller to allow for tensioning and shaping the sail of its possible sail angles?

I would use an adjustable tack line, led aft. Inside the bow rail, the tack line is usually long enough to get the fitting above the rail for a smooth sail shape. But if you're outside the bow rail, I suppose it could be shorter.

Most folks here add a hound about 18" above the forestay hound, just for the spinnaker. It gives enough clearance for a Chute Scoop or similar dowsing sock. In case you didn't know.

For you asym spinaker the luff will be a little more than your max halyard lift. I do not know how much more but more. I provided exact measurements to Doyle and had a racing spinnaker made for my boat. If you look at the picture with the halyard at max lift and the tack all the way to the sprit it still has a curve.





When I first got the sail the sailmaker wanted picture to ensure the shape of the sails looked good. I was in a race shortly after and had this picture taken. The sail maker basically yelled at me and sail "I designed that sail to be flown off the sprit. Pull it down all the way!" Even all the way down it still has a luff curl.



Now as far as a cruzing spin. I would not worry to much about it being perfect. I would guess that a spinaker that is 10% to short probably yields a 1% change in performance. Just get somthing that you know will fit and go out and have fun.

I fly a stock Assm. with a tight luff and extend the tack about 1' up from bow rail on my X. To get the tight luff I have a duel purpose topping lift/spinaker halyard from the mast top. Downsides to be noted: The mast is not supported well from the top, which raises strength issues for the mast. Also you must drop the spinnaker before the main or you won't have a topping lift. It works well for me as I have a chute scoop to douse if things get messy. Last year I added a superstrong anchor roller with a hound at the far bow end; to which I plan to attach the spin instead of the bow rail. The last several months of sailing in South Bay San Diego there was more wind than I like, to do a spin run and I'm getting a little lazy in making sail changes so I haven't tried out the new tack attachment.