Thanks to you'll
John Marotzke
P-15 Hooray
JBlumhorst@aol.com wrote:
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> West Wight Potter Website at URL
> http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> In a message dated 5/21/99 5:19:31 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> jmarotz@earthlink.net writes:
>
> > I think someone might have solved a problem with the wooden thingy. By
> > extending
> > the boom he/she can pull the out haul more and flatten the main sail.
> > Just the thing
> > in heavy air. I keep looking at my boom wishing that I could flatten the
> > main
> > more. The loose footed main just looks like it is to loose. I think you
> > have
> > given me an idea. Will have to work on it some.
> > What do you think, Judy?
>
> HI John,
>
> I did some asking around about your question and thought about the problem.
> I think I might have an explanation of what's going on and why you're having
> trouble getting your sail outhauled enough. I'm not sure since I don't have
> a small Potter.
>
> The boom is long enoung for main sail with a bolt rope in the luff and just
> exactly the right length to fit in the cabin. Installing slugs on the main
> adds about an inch and a half to the length of the foot of the sail (and of
> course the rest of the sail, but that's not relevant to the problem).
>
> When the sailmaker adds slugs to the sail, s/he should measure the boom
> length first. That would identify a potential problem -- the foot of the
> sail gets about 1.0 to 1.5 inches too long to be properly outhauled on the
> stock boom.
>
> An inch and a half is a LOT of outhaul to lose. If you take a 10' piece of
> PVC pipe and bend it so the ends are 1.5 inches closer together it bows out
> about 5". (I just happen to have a 10' piece of PVC lying around and I
> thought I'd better check my math).
>
> If the foot of your sail is is 1.5 inches too long, the DRAFT gets 5"
> (approx) deeper!!! For every inch of outhaul you lose, the draft gets about
> 3 inches deeper (circumference = pi * diameter). That's going to make a HUGE
> difference in how your sail handles.
>
> Your observation that "the foot of the sail looks way too loose" is
> absolutely correct!!!
>
> There are two solutions: trim the luff/front of the sail before adding slugs,
> (I'd guess in the $100 range for the whole job at a sailmaker) or add an
> extension onto the end of the boom (get an $8-10 part from Dwyer mast).
>
> I went to the sailmake yesterday to have a new luff, grommets, batten pockets
> resewn/repaired/reinforced and a window put into a used sail I bought for one
> of my other boats. It cost me about $100 total. But there was no headboard
> at the top and no long batten that came right to the luff; that would be
> extra work.
>
> Regards,
> Judy