Main too long.

[Robin]

It has been mentioned elsewhere but I will repeat it.

Does the sail have a cunningham eye(s) just above the boom on the luff? If so it may have been deliberately cut to give maximum area in light winds with further tension as required being applied downwards via a line through the cunningham rather than upwards via the halyard. On our mainsail for example we can take about another 6" (1st eye) or 12" (2nd eye or flattening reef eye) out of the luff length. The cunningham is a cheap and cunning(!) way of getting the maximum area with maximum performance out of the sail.

In addition as others have said, look at the halyard attachment and see if you can shorten the connection. Bulky splices in braided line will stop the halyard going full hoist as will shackles, a simple knot to a short shackle and no splice may also gain you several inches.

 

[Jonny_H]

[ QUOTE ]
Bulky splices in braided line will stop the halyard going full hoist as will shackles, a simple knot to a short shackle and no splice may also gain you several inches.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just go the whole hog - get rid of the splice and the shackle - round turn and two half hitches will do you fine (its what many racing boats use for this very reason) - that should buy you 3 - 4 inches. And I agree with the above - you can easily lose a couple of inches with the cunningham.

You may need no sail making at all!? Would be useful to try and get a view of the sail when its up the mast (go up on a calm day) and see how far off the halyard sheath the sail comes - you may be surprised - lots of boats sail round with the sail 8 or more inches off the top of the mast!

 

[Boathook]

Being local to Poole I use Quay Sails and find them good and helpful. From previous experience though they will possibly be busy with repairs etc that should of been organised last year (and yes, I have been guilty as well) !!

 

[pandos]

It is on the cunningham, and the shackle is gone with the halyard through the headboard and this is uptight to the sheave, the sail is just about tolerable like this but not very good when hard on the wind.


All of the americas cup boats have a flat top to their mains this is what got me thinking

 

[Robin]

Seems like we cannot save you money then, it is either shorten the sail or lengthen the mast!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[pandos]

Thanks to all who replied.

My notion, crazy or not is that a bigger head board(front to back) which will be articulated, so that the sail will react as if the top 8 inches were simply chopped off, might be the way to go.

Tomorrow I will check with some plywood templates if this is feasable, vis a vis the backstay.

I will also put the halyard on at one of the slides about a foot down just to see what shape the foot will take on when it is fully hauled.

Then I will stop and think again.

thanks .
Tony.

 

[Lakesailor]

If you don't have the halyard at the top of the headboard it will tilt backwards and you'll get a crease below the headboard and a floppy leech.
My best bet is to get a sailrmaker down to look at himself and go with his recommendations. If it doesn't work straight away, the ball's in his court.

 

[bbg]

[ QUOTE ]

All of the americas cup boats have a flat top to their mains this is what got me thinking

[/ QUOTE ]

They also having running backstays, and some teams have dispensed entirely with topmast backstays - so they don't have to worry about how much roach they have at the top of the sail. These probably aren't options for you unless you want to invest in a new mast.

 

[Lakesailor]

Windermere Class boats have a mast crane offset to allow more roach in the leech. But I reckon it would be far cheaper to have the sail re-cut.
Doing something like that on your boat would be a major design project.

 

[Jonny_H]

Something the 1720's and SB3's have is a sail batten attached to the crane whic has a small block on the outer end, through which the backstay passes, this 'lifts' the backstay clear of the leach at the top, yet the flexability of the batten allows the backstay still to be cranked on when possible.

Only really of use if you 'trim' the backstay though - not really a solution for the 'fit and forget' backstays most cruisers have

Jonny