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

dunedin

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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 ...
Yes, agree not setup properly - was wondering if OP remembered to release the mainsheet and vang fully when hoisting, but also didn’t want to be disrespectful. Certainly tight on leech and slack on luff, which is a setting issue.
Plus a lesser issue but reef lines attached to boom too far forward.
 
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Tranona

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First time boat owner and I thought with the sail maker coming to measure he'd just do what's best.
He probably has, but it is not clear from your photo what the tack of the sail is like as there does not appear to be any way of attaching it to the boom fitting. He may well have followed the original sail area, but there could have been an advantage to increase that area given all the extra weight you have added to the boat. Not the end of the world. More important to get what you have set up properly.
 

WindyWindyWindy

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Not sure what's actually going on, but I used a long shackle to lift the tack a bit and the resulting movement killed the eyelets in the bottom mast sliders. So don't do that...

If it's tight to the mast it should be ok.. reefing typically results in a well raised tack point.
 

William_H

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Not sure what's actually going on, but I used a long shackle to lift the tack a bit and the resulting movement killed the eyelets in the bottom mast sliders. So don't do that...

If it's tight to the mast it should be ok.. reefing typically results in a well raised tack point.
Tack attachment needs to get the tack (and so luff) close to the mast such that if luff is stretched between halyard at top and tack attach at bottom then there is no outward load on the bolt rope or slugs. (slider) The long shackle I imagine would allow the tack to be pulled outwards (aft) by the pull of the out haul leaving bottom slug under tension. A similar story if you have the foot of the sail bolt rope in groove in boom. But I think modern fashion is to have foot loose. ol'will
 

patrickza

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Sailmaker took the sail back and added a panel, how does this look:
 

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pmagowan

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Is your boom unable to clear the gubbins over the cockpit while horizontal. It looks excited! Very unusual setup. Is the main sheet made off on that Bimini solar thing? Has this boat been sailed in this setup before or is this all new
 

patrickza

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It does clear, I'm happier with more of a gap though. It was the sail pulling the end up though, but overall still a bigger size than before. I pulled the vang pretty hard, but I suspect there might be room for a tiny bit more.
 

lustyd

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It looks like a bodge, but I’m sure it’ll work fine. Would have been nicer to make the boom level for a more normal look and sail shape but I can’t think of any technical reason a boom needs to be level, it’s just become the norm over time and so anything else looks a bit odd.
 

dunedin

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It looks like a bodge, but I’m sure it’ll work fine. Would have been nicer to make the boom level for a more normal look and sail shape but I can’t think of any technical reason a boom needs to be level, it’s just become the norm over time and so anything else looks a bit odd.
Lots of boats are designed with upwards sloping booms - particularly open series race boats to get more sail area by having a lower gooseneck.
Looks much better. But it does seem odd that the sailmaker seemed to get things so wrong first time round.
 

Tranona

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The upward sloping boom is to give clearance to the framework holding the solar panels while still allowing the mainsheet to run to the rear of the framework. The boat has been converted to electric hence the huge amount of solar. The original would have been at a more normal angle. Such are the compromises when you start messing about with boats to make them something they were not designed as!
 
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