How much gap between the tack of the sail and the boom?

ProDave said:
Surely the boom has a groove, so even if not using the roller furling you could still have had a bolt rope in the boom? Or was it always loose footed?
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The roller boom does has a grove, well mine does, but from new the boom was set up for slab reefing. My new main a couple of years ago is lose footed with a curve on the foot and is 'shackled' at the tack and has a slide in the boom to hold the clew down to the boom, and then a purchase to tension the main towards the end of the boom.

My boat is a 9m Catalac as well.
 
That is the same Proctor boom as I have. This is the tack attachment for my new loose footed mainsail and the turning block for the single line reefing. your sail looks as if it is not cut correctly.
 

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Boathook said:
The roller boom does has a grove, well mine does, but from new the boom was set up for slab reefing. My new main a couple of years ago is lose footed with a curve on the foot and is 'shackled' at the tack and has a slide in the boom to hold the clew down to the boom, and then a purchase to tension the main towards the end of the boom.

My boat is a 9m Catalac as well.
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Roller furling does not mean you cannot have simple Slab reefing if you prefer. I have used slab with roller combined .. its actually very effective ...

I used to roll sail till tack was at position and hook on .. then use slab sail ties to tie of sail to boom - which also lifted it level again .. along with the higher clew.

Of course if you have line reefing to slab - then you cannot roll.
 
Tranona said:
That is the same Proctor boom as I have. This is the tack attachment for my new loose footed mainsail and the turning block for the single line reefing. your sail looks as if it is not cut correctly.
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I don't think we can judge that until the tack has been fastened and the sail tensioned as normal.
 
Tranona said:
Yes, I think you can question the cut. First it does not seem full height, second there is no cut back at the tack - see here e-sails.com/measuring/ I posted mine because it is the same boom and style of sail and the foot looks all wrong to me.
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I’m not convinced. I can’t see the tack cringle on the photo, which appears to be folded up on the other side out of sight. There might just be enough slack to make it work correctly. I’m not saying that it must be correct, only that the photo doesn’t quite tell us.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
Black bands at mast head and tack end are usually for one design ratings, where the sail should not be hoisted above or hauled below the bands. The objective is to ensure consistent luff dimensions across a fleet.

They are not relevant to the OPs issue.
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Not just one design - I think most boats with an IRC rating will have black bands - otherwise you are rated on the size of the spars not the size of the sail.
 
It seems to me that the OP has a problem of the boom being too low to clear the solar panels etc on cabin top. If as it is, the tack is attached poroperly ie touching the boom then the sail will droop down too far. (topping lift off) So firstly organise proper tack attachment snug close to mast and boom. Then get the sail maker to measure again with full height luff and full length foot. Probably at min raising the foot and clew by shortening the leach. (If as I think clearance on cabin top is a problem) (check also clearance with reef(s) in.) Of course the reduction in sail area will reduce performance in light winds but will be appreciated when the wind comes up. Still no point in having an extra long boom and extra tall mast. ol'will
 
ISTM that the first thing to do is attach the tack as per Tranona's photo and see what it all looks like then.

A Catalac's not a performance yacht, though they do sail decently, so a slightly undersized sail isn't really an issue.
 
Interesting reading all the posts ... but my main thought is that OP needs to actually rig the sail better .. ie tack to correct point ... tension that foot .... hoist and tension luff - basically get the sail hoisted better - as all I see in OP's photo is a sail casually hoisted to see if its right size ..

Not trying to be disrespectful to OP ..

Once tensioned up - then look at what's possibly wrong ...
 
Looking at the photo, it looks like there is no tension at all in the luff. I would suggest making sure that the sail is hoisted as far up the mast as it will go as it seems to be too low. This will raise the clew so that the end of the boom is a bit higher.
If you fit a downhaul to the tack, you will be able to remove the slack in the luff which will bring the tack closer to the boom by a couple of inches.
On my own boat, a 31 footer, I tried out a luff downhaul although the boat wasn't designed to use one. By applying a lot of tension, temporarily, I was able to bring the tack down by about 6 inches!
Practically, you need to apply enough tension, either by using the halyard or a downhaul, to ensure that the luff does not bow between the sliders when sailing.
 
ANDY_W said:
Looking at the photo, it looks like there is no tension at all in the luff. I would suggest making sure that the sail is hoisted as far up the mast as it will go as it seems to be too low. This will raise the clew so that the end of the boom is a bit higher.
If you fit a downhaul to the tack, you will be able to remove the slack in the luff which will bring the tack closer to the boom by a couple of inches.
On my own boat, a 31 footer, I tried out a luff downhaul although the boat wasn't designed to use one. By applying a lot of tension, temporarily, I was able to bring the tack down by about 6 inches!
Practically, you need to apply enough tension, either by using the halyard or a downhaul, to ensure that the luff does not bow between the sliders when sailing.
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Thanks, will give it a try
 
patrickza said:
Thanks that's useful. Hopefully I just have a setup problem.
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You should have a ring at the tack of the sail just like mine and there is an attachment point on the boom just behind the disc that you shackle it to. That is the starting point for setting up the sail. The tack of the sail can't be seen in your photo and the lower part of the luff looks wrong. The cutback start just below where the luff enters the mast track. It is quite a lot because the old roller gear means the attachment of the tack is well back on the boom.

So first thing to do is attach the tack and raise the sail with the halyard as tight as it can go then slack off the topping lift so the boom takes the weight of the sail. If it is cut correctly the boom should clear the panels underneath comfortably. The foot does look short. Was there a reason for that as you lose quite a bit of sail area.
 
patrickza said:
I thought with the sail maker coming to measure he'd just do what's best.
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He probably has, everything on this thread is wild speculation based on a photo. Did you manage to drop the topping lift and attach the tack? Would be useful to post a photo with those things done. Personally I still think the sail looks fine.
 
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