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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Confusing Mainsail Measurements

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oldragbaggers
1st Mate

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USA
47 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/27/2014 : 14:27:09

We have been considering raising our boom up a foot on our C25 tall rig in order to accommodate a bimini and so I'll stop whacking my head on the darned thing. We haven't had any success finding a used Capri 25 main and so had decided that we were just going to have a foot removed from the bottom of our main. We took it to the boat today and hoisted it up (we just bought this poor needy old boat so this is the first time we have put the sail up) and marked it off and it looked like we needed to remove 14" to get the gooseneck just above the slot. When we got home we laid the sail out to measure the luff, just to be sure of what the final length was going to be, and lo and behold the luff was 26'6". We found this to be very confusing since we expected the luff to measure 27'8".

The sail is already 14" shorter than what it should be, yet our boom is very low. The only explanation I can come up with is that somewhere along the line someone has shortened the mast. Can anyone else think of any other explanation?

Lance and Becky Williams
1981 C-25 #2239 TR/FK, Seaquel

Edited by - on

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1511 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2014 : 14:42:43

The original manual I have shows these measurements:

TR Luff - 27.66'
SR Luff - 24.66'

TR Mast - 30'
SR Mast - 28'

Is it possible that you actually have a SR with some other sized sail?

Edited by - Davy J on 04/27/2014 14:45:52

oldragbaggers
1st Mate

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47 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2014 : 14:54:40

I guess that's possible. I didn't measure exactly how much mast there was below the boom when we had the sail up, but thinking about it now, it could have been a foot and a half or so, which would make the mast about 28'

We will be down at the boat tomorrow for haul out. I will hoist up a line and measure it. If in fact we do have a standard rig (better change my signature line!!) then we need to get our sail adjusted.

Edited by - oldragbaggers on 04/27/2014 17:07:32

Kennyge
1st Mate

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USA
76 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2014 : 15:22:29

I also have a tall rig and brought my main into Doyle to help me make a decision what to do to raise the boom 1 foot to fit my new Bimini. Paul at City Island Doyle said it would cheaper and better to cut a foot off the bottom rather than the top, which I thought might be the better way to go. He is going to make it loose fitted and said I will not miss the bottom foot of the sail. I will pick it up this week and hope to have the boat in the water within 2 weeks. Bottom is painted and I am working on the teak and lots of small projects. Can't wait to splash!

ps. He also sold me a new Genoa because the PO had wound the sail the wrong way and the stitching had all come apart and it was ready to implode so I might just be using the new headsail on the Long Island Sound most of the time, anyway.

Edited by - Kennyge on 04/27/2014 15:34:02

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2014 : 16:07:08

If you in fact have a std rig, before you cut the sail, lay it out and measure down 24.66' from the top of the head board. Then, from that point, measure the distance to the leech at a right angle to the luff. A std or TR foot measures 9.58'. Are you going to be significantly shorter than that? Also, where are your battens and points in relation to the "new" foot? If too short and it won't look right, then you might be better off selling/trading your main and getting a new one.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2014 : 19:59:14

How high above the cabintop is your boom at full hoist? If you have a standard rig mast, that's where everything starts. I'd ask Catalina what that hull# was delivered with. (Your foresail luff-length could also be a clue, but that can vary more than the main, based on furlers, etc.) I'm suspicious it's standard, which is not a bad thing.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 04/27/2014 20:01:49

oldragbaggers
1st Mate

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USA
47 Posts

Response Posted - 04/28/2014 : 16:26:31

I hoisted a line up the mast today and measured it. It appears that we do have a tall rig, 30' mast. That makes the sail measurements even more confusing. If someone already cut it down a foot then that would have made the boom dangerously low before because I think it's low now!!

It's possible I made a mistake measuring the main so I think I better lay it out and do it again when the ground is dry. I'm really nervous about having it cut until I know exactly what I'm doing.

Edited by - on

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 06:45:39

The best way to measure the luff is raising the sail with a measuring tape attached to the halyard (along with the sail). This allows you to measure the luff under tension.

This kind of tape measure makes it easy to do:
http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-34-103-50-Foot--8-Inch-Steel/dp/B00009P8A6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1398778825&sr=8-15&keywords=stanley+100%27+tape+measure

Are you sure that your sail is getting full hoist? The boom on most Catalina 25's is sliding and you should release the downhaul, raise the sail, then tension the luff and tie off the downhaul. If the downhaul was made too short then the sail won't get full hoist and your boom will sit lower than is ideal.

If you can hoist the sail at dock, then take a photo of it that will help see if you are getting the correct hoist. I recently ordered a new main for my Pearson and did the same thing to get good measurements (and discovered that my current sail is 6" too short in the process):

That is a photo showing a low hoist (my Pearson has a fixed gooseneck, so having a short luff is like having an always slightly reefed sail).

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 15:59:55

Your PO may already have shortened the sail a foot to accommodate a bimini, or it is a Capri 25 main, which is a foot shorter than a C-25 TR main. A normal TR luff, as indicated above, is 27.66'. the mast is 30'. Therefore the boom should be a bit less than 2.5' above the mast step. The Tr was created as an option for inland lake sailors sailing mostly in lighter airs than the guys on the coast, hence the larger sail area. I had one, and yes, the boom is a lot lower, especially coming from a C-22. But the extra sail area is really helpful in light air. A TR C-25 has the same sail area as a Capri 26, more of it in the head sail, and is a thousand pounds lighter!

Edited by - on

oldragbaggers
1st Mate

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USA
47 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 18:11:43

I contacted Catalina today and they confirmed by boat was a tall rig, as my measurements of the mast yesterday also indicated. That settled that. Now, the sail. This is not the original sail and I don't think it is a Capri sail either. It appears to be a custom sail made by a local sailmaker here in Baltimore that is no longer in business. It has the sail numbers and the C25 logo. Being a custom made sail it is, of course, possible that the owner had the dimensions altered. But it could also be that having the sail up and stretched would make a difference in the measurement, but a whole foot? It seems unlikely to me that there is that much stretch. BUT,there is 2.5 feet of mast below the gooseneck right now, and that would seem to indicate that the sail does actually stretch that much.

Thanks for discussing this with me. It's always good to have other people to bounce things off of to get your mind working in directions it wouldn't take on its own. I guess as improbsble as it seems it must be stretch.

Edited by - oldragbaggers on 04/30/2014 06:25:27

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2014 : 07:07:41

You've released the downhaul, right?

If your mast is 30' long and luff + boom height = 29' then your sail isn't going all the way up. The most likely thing preventing full hoist is that the gooseneck is being held in place by the downhaul. A 1981 C-25 has a sliding gooseneck (unless the PO changed it).

Edited by - on

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