Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
We installed a furler and had one of our head sails modified to use on the furler. my question is, should the sail be above the pulpit? I'm being told by a local that it's normal and doesn't matter. I can say if it cleared the pulpit it sure would make visibility much better.
Image isn't working so I'll just post the link and hopefully it can be accessed
It really depends on the cut of the sail and the clew. Some are lower cut and maybe called a deck sweeper and some are cut higher affording a better view forward. Racers may prefer a deck sweeper for the added square footage of cloth. I have 2, One is cut low and the other is cut higher. I use the higher cut because it's easier to see under it but I don't race. Both will lay against the bow pulpit. If you want it to clear the pulpit you would need to have the luff shortened and use a pennant from the drum up to the sail.
Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688 Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound
how do you like your sail-pack? I was thinking of making one. do you think it degrades performance? do you loosen the lazyjacks to get it to lay like that?
The picture you showed is typical of a deck sweeping genoa. I agree it's annoying that the sail cringles against the pulpit and visibility is poor, but a lot of people do it. You can of course raise it to clear the pulpit if you want, but the time for that was when you had the sail modified.
how do you like your sail-pack? I was thinking of making one. do you think it degrades performance? do you loosen the lazyjacks to get it to lay like that?
Todd, sorry for the delay. The jury is still out on the sail pack, mainly because of the lazy jacks. The system was built and installed by a friend so I wasn't too sure what I was going to have when it was completed. I think I'd like it a lot more if I can figure out a way to get the lazy jacks close to the mast when I don't need them. It's not that they interfere with the sail shape but they tend to snag the battons from time to time. We're still playing with it. I DO loosen the sail pack a bit when the main is up but I don't think I need to.
Edit: I should clarify that the battons only snag when "hoisting and dropping the main" and it's usually my fault by not pointing directly into the wind.
Kyle '86 SR/SK/Dinette #5284 "Anodyne" In the barn where we found her...
'Moment' in this sense is generally synonymous with torque. The moment arm he is referring to is the vertical distance between the center of gravity of the boat and the center of force of the wind acting on the genoa. A deck sweeper will have a lower center of force from the wind simply because it is lower to the deck. So, for the same force from the wind, a deck sweeper will generally impart less heel on the boat because the moment arm is shorter. IE: You can get more torque for the same force with a longer wrench on a bolt.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.