Mainsail jamming problems

[LadyViolet]

On the last sail of the 2002 season, as I tried to lower my mainsail in a freshening F6 and a very strong ebb outside Gillingham Marina, the luff got stuck in what I think is called the pre-feeder. (In case I've got my terminology wrong, this is the plastic slot [made by Z-Spars] which feeds the luff into the mast). I managed to get the sail out, but in doing so I wrecked the prefeeder and ripped the bottom eight inches of the luff. Over the winter I got the prefeeder replaced with a new Z-Spars one, and had the sail repaired very nicely by Wilkinson at Conyer Quay. Only trouble now is that where the new luff joins the old, there is an overlap which makes the luff too thick to pass through the pre-feeder. Of course, I should have tried it out before but I didn't. Rather than lose several weeks sailing by sending the sail back, does anyone know of another brand/type of prefeeder, with a wider aperture that I could rivet on the mast myself in place of the Z-Spars one?

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[Aja]

Have you tried Z-Spars?

Donald

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[Starspinner]

Are you sure that the thickened luff will still fit the mast slot. The sailmaker repaired my luff with kevlar and had almost no thickening.

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[LadyViolet]

Thanks for your replies.

Z-Spars only does the one feeder. I have just been told that Spinlock does a feeder that slots into the luff groove of the mast. Does anyone have experience of that product?

I reckon that even with the overlap, the thickened luff will fit into the mast slot -- it's just a question of getting it past the feeder.


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