Telltales

Bill Blohm (bblohm@boi.hp.com)
Tue, 06 Apr 1999 13:27:32 -0600


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Having read with interest the discussion on installing telltales,
and having used them before, I am planning to install them on
my main and possibly the jibs. While I understand what they do and
how to use them, I'm still not sure about some items. So, here's
a couple of questions:

1) How long should the telltales be? I recall 6" ones, but have
heard all sorts of sizes from 4" to 10".
2) Where do you attach telltales?
3) How do you determine where to attach telltales?

That last one isn't so innocent. I've seen them up all over the
sail, up on the luff, in the middle, and even on the leech.
Personally, I'm thinking of using yarn through the sail, but I
would like to know where to locate them without having to buy
a telltale kit. The best way to know this is to understand why
and where to put them rather than just being told to put them
3 " from the luff, beginning 1' up, and 1' apart (or whatever).
Yeah, but why there and not here?

Bill B.
P-19 #454, "Dream Catcher"
Nampa, ID