> I was wondering if anyone has any experience using sails not specifically
> designed for the Potter. Are there any inherent problems other than the
> obvious i.e., don't get a sail with a bigger luff than the length or your
> forestay? I have a Potter 15 and was looking at a used jib that had a luff
> of 12.05, a foot of 6.05 and a leech of 11.09. Does anyone see a problem
of
> using this on the Potter? It seems that it would fill the role mid way
> between the working jib and a 150% genoa. I appreciate any thoughts folks
> might have on this. Thanks in advance!
Hi Kelvin,
One problem might be the clew height, if you don't have adjustable sheet
blocks. If the clew on the headsail is too high for your existing sheet
blocks, the leech of the sail will be too tight and the foot will be too
loose. The bottom telltale will be lifting and the bottom of the sail will
be stalling out. You'd have to move the sheet blocks aft to get a good shape
on the headsail.
On the otherhand, if the clew is significantly too low for the location of
your exising sheet blocks, you could add a bit of line or wire to the tack at
the bottom of the headsail to raise it up a few inches (assuming the luff on
the headsail is short enough to permit it).
I wish I knew enough to tell you how to figure out how high is "too high" for
the clew, but I don't. I've never tried to use sails that weren't made for
my boat, so I never bothered to learn all the details.
One way around the problem is to install movable cars on tracks for the
jibsheets. _The Annapolis Book of Seamanship_, 2nd ed., by John
Rousmanniere, has a nice discussion of the many advantages of using tracks on
page70.
Hope this helps you make your decision.