Beneteau First 40.7 Mainsail luff question

[PEZ17]

Hi forum

We have a First 40.7 and are in the process of ordering a new main. The current sail is on rollers but we were hoping to have the luff go up the mast groove for the new one. Can anyone tell me if this is possible on this yacht? This was the arrangement we had on our previous boat (Sigma) but the groove channel on the Beneteau seems more of a rectangle shape than round.

Also, as an aside, we were going to go for a 3 + 3 batten arrangement with the top 3 being fully battened and the lower 3 just partial. For racing can anyone comment if this is a good setup?

Thanks!

 

[savageseadog]

I would ask your potential sailmakers to specify in a quote. A rectangular luff groove isn't an issue. The width of the opening and space inside the groove are. The entry into the groove is important as well, you may need a pre-feeder.

 

[PEZ17]

Yeah, I'd assumed a prefeeder would be needed. Thanks for the clarification

 

[Steve The Seagull]

That should be fine, it might need a pre feeder and the track opening adjusted slightly to make it a bit more forgiving on the bolt rope.

Regarding battens it all depends on the sailing you are doing at the spec of material. 1 or 2 full battens are standard on pretty much any sail but 3 only if you have a very big roach or square top. What is the brief for the sail!?

 

[savageseadog]

I would emphasise that whatever the OP does he should ask the sailmaker to produce a written quote for the job based on the OP's written spec. The sailmaker would preferably view and measure the rig, if he doesn't, as long as the spec is correct then any problems are down to the sailmaker. I've no idea how standard the 40.7's rig and mast is across the range.

 

[scruff]

May I ask why you want to do away with the batten cars / sliders? feeding a bolt roped mainsail is a nuisance and harder to flake on the boom...

 

[PEZ17]

Thanks for the advice folks.
I'm pretty sure the 40.7 has a standard setup - our measurements certainly match the specs available online. We're in the UK and buying from the US (lots cheaper!) so getting the sail maker to come and measure up isn't an option so we'll have to make sure we get it right!
Re the cars/sliders I guess its just preference, you seem to get a nicer shape with luff-in-groove but it wouldn't be a game changer if we had to stick with cars.

 

[savageseadog]

Thanks for the advice folks.
I'm pretty sure the 40.7 has a standard setup - our measurements certainly match the specs available online. We're in the UK and buying from the US (lots cheaper!) so getting the sail maker to come and measure up isn't an option so we'll have to make sure we get it right!
Re the cars/sliders I guess its just preference, you seem to get a nicer shape with luff-in-groove but it wouldn't be a game changer if we had to stick with cars.

Is the groove the same as the others?

 

[PEZ17]

I'm hoping so! I've send photos to the sail maker so will wait for their opinion.

 

[kof]

Switching to bolt rope/grove is going to make the sail handling a lot harder. It brings a lot of friction into the system and will make reefing a lot more work.

As an ex-40.7 owner - 90% of the drive on the 40.7 main comes from the aft 70% of the sail. You typically drive with the luff lifting a lot and change the shape with the vang/mainsheet. All you're really looking at is the leech shape and nothing else. So long as you have luff tension you're all set.