RE: Got any spare sail track?

Eric Johnson (eric@theftnet.net)
Mon, 8 Feb 1999 11:49:07 -0800


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Thanks for the suggestion. I might do that if i can't fashion a track
system, but the only thing I don't like about that method is it takes time
to rig (I can't think of a quick-connect version of doing that), and I've
got a few too many padeyes and such in the way....

The design I have worked out in my head:
What I intend to do with track is to put a few inches on the top of the
boom. I'll leave an inch or so of space between the outhaul block and the
aft end of the track. the forward end of the track will have a stop of some
sort.

I'll have a sail slide permently lashed to the clew of the main, and the
outhaul line also permanently spliced to the clew.

With this setup, I figure to bend on the sail, I'd first slide the sail
slide over the track at the aft end of the boom, then run the outhaul line
through the block to the clamcleat. Then walk up to the mast and bend on the
luff.

I figure with this setup, the end of outhaul line will not need to be
knotted. This is important because i use a fairlead-style clam cleat and
can't feed the line through if it is knotted, and undoing the knot after a
day's sail can be time consuming. With the slide and stop arrangement, if
the outhaul ever gets away from me (like it does currently if i let it slip
and don't have a knot) the slide will simply slide forward to the stop and
not wildly away from me as it has on occasion.

So, i think with the design in my head i get the best of all worlds: Faster
setup/takedown (little things like this, in aggregate, can cut LOTS of time
off of rigging), a higher boom, more control of sail shape (since outhaul
will now solely control foot tension and affect leech tension much less),
and a safety in case the outhaul line gets away from me.

The other things I've thought about in this design were : multipart
purchase, and 'hiding' this purchase INSIDE the boom, and running the point
of adjustment much more forward so it can be adjusted on a broad reach
without trimming the sail in. I need to think about this more. I can think
of several ways to do it, but I don't want to over-complicate it and fast
setup/teardown is mandatory. A multi-part purchase sure would make it easier
to flatten sail in high winds (which is when you need to do it!)

if i come up with a more solid design I'll sketch it up and post it. This is
another place where a diagram or picture would be worth 1000 words.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: RSKARAM@aol.com [mailto:RSKARAM@aol.com]
> Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 11:23 AM
> To: eric@theftnet.net; wwpotter@tscnet.com
> Subject: Re: Got any spare sail track?
>
>
>
> Dear Eric: I hope that you find some sail track, but until you do
> find it I
> would suggest the following cheap substitute. I suggest you tie a rope
> through the clew cringle and around the boom to hold the clew down to the
> boom. This rope is in addition to the outhaul. That is the way my model
> sailboat resolves the problem and what I intend to do with my P-15 this
> spring. I don't have any jiffy reefing gear at the end of my
> boom that would
> inhibit the movement of the rope around the boom, therefore I
> suspect it is
> going to do me as well as the sail track option.
>
> Richard S. Karam
> Oops #2090
> Oklahoma City.
>
>
> In a message dated 2/8/99 6:56:56 PM, eric@theftnet.net writes:
>
> >Does anyone out there have a small length (6" should be enough) or sail
> >
> >track (any width) floating around? I'd like to add a small bit to the end
> >of
> >
> >my boom for holding down the clew of the main to the boom, but I'd rather
> >
> >not spend $40 for a 6-foot length of it. A small chunk of something like
> >
> >genoa block or traveller car track would work too
>