New mainsail - loose footed?

James Marinero

James Marinero

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www.jamesmarinero.com
A friend is looking for a new mainsail for a Cutlass 27. Current one has a rope foot in boom groove. Several sailmakers are telling us that loose footed is the way to go, offering better sail shape and higher efficiency. Should we go loose footed?

All advice appreciated.

Thanks
 
Personally, I would go for anything that wasn't loose footed. I even use my old main loose-footed although it was designed to go in the groove on the boom. It just gives better shape.

The one downside I can think of is that it loads the ends of the boom a little more, which is only really going to make a difference if your boom is sheeted in the middle, and even then the difference is probably not significant.
 
On a similar size boat I changed from a bolt rope on the foot to loose footed, the performance is much better especially reaching. The only thing I had to do was source a heavy duty slider for the clew , mine was lightly small and with heavy jibe I had it pop out I now lash it loosely to round the boom, it stops it happening and you can still adjust the foot tension.

David MH
 
With any outhaul tension on the load is still on the end of the boom whether bolt roped or loose footed, the bolt rope doesn't distribute load it just holds the lower part of the sail and occasionally are used for shelf foots for light air.

Loose footed is absolutely the way to go for shape, simplicity, visual response to trim controls etc. Sail makers recommend for good reasons. In my experience a bolt rope just makes the outhaul less effective and the difference in shape less obvious plus ads a heap of friction to the outhaul making it harder to get the same effect.
 
+3.

Funnily enough, I remember that my father’s 35ft boat had a loose footed Bermuda mainsail and 3/4 rig in the 1950s. The spars were varnished spruce, the standing rigging was galvanised plough steel and the sails were cotton, but that’s what she had!

Fashion must have something to do with it!

I prefer loose footed. Easier to reef, easier to stow, BUT - you must have a really powerful outhaul system, and use it as required.
 
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Minn said:
+3.

Funnily enough, I remember that my father’s 35ft boat had a loose footed Bermuda mainsail and. 3/4 rig in the 1950s.

Fashion must have something to do with it!

I prefer loose footed. Easier to reef, easier to stow, BUT - you must have a really powerful outhaul system, and use it as required.
Click to expand...

My main foot, is "just" standing, any further adjustment is via the leach cunningham, & reefing is also easy
 
Only exception to wantig loose footed would be:
Class rules/rating penalty
When they are very old, some loose footed sails with excess foot roach 'motorboat' on the foot.
A lens foot is a compromise, soft material fill the gap between sail and boom. I think this used to be the way to go for some class rules/rating systems.
I used to race on a 40ft boat with basically half a lens foot, the main feature of this seemed to be directing rainwater down the genoa trimmer's neck. Not all bad in the context.
Aerodynamics bods will tell you there is some merit in making the boom an 'end plate' to stop air flowing under the foot. You weigh that of against getting a good shape IMHO.

A loose footed sail is a lot easier to change to the cruising/delivery rag, gets my vote.

But yes, you need a hi-load slide for the clew, but you probably will with any modern sail.
 
My new main (20 squ metres) is loose footed, the previous one was loose footed. On other yachts I have owned or chartered the foot was in a slot on the boom. I would say definitely superior to have loose footed. My yacht outhaul adjustment is aided by using a reefing winch on the mast below the boom. The clew is held vertically down on the boom with a Velcro tape strap thing supplied with the sail, which works a treat.
 
davidmh said:
The only thing I had to do was source a heavy duty slider for the clew , mine was lightly small and with heavy jibe I had it pop out I now lash it loosely to round the boom, it stops it happening and you can still adjust the foot tension.
Click to expand...

A velcro strap works very well. Pretty near standard these days on racers, so if your sailmaker makes sails for racers he'll know exactly what is needed.
 
When I bought the boat it came with a main with a shelf foot. I was quite pleased with the way it allowed the shape of the foot to be changed, so when I ordered new sails I specified a shelf foot again, on the grounds that it acts as an end plate and prevents the pressure in the sail from escaping. The sailmaker advised a loose foot, but did not condemn a shelf foot, so that is what I have Now.
In retrospect I think it probably does not matter much whether you go loose-footed or shelf, provided the shelf allows enough movement of the foot.
I would definitely never go back to a bolt rope.
 
If loose footed is so much better (and I don't dispute that), why were boltropes in slots (and before that, tight lacings) along the foot so common for so long?

Pete
 
prv said:
If loose footed is so much better (and I don't dispute that), why were boltropes in slots (and before that, tight lacings) along the foot so common for so long?

Pete
Click to expand...

Perhaps a development reaction to boom-less rigs and light wind sailing where a pole would have been used to help hold the foot out.; just a guess really. Maybe with working sail it was easier when shorthanded to stow a sail with the foot lashed to the boom, which I have found to be the case when flaking and converting to a so called harbour stow, greatly facilitated by a shelf.
 
prv said:
If loose footed is so much better (and I don't dispute that), why were boltropes in slots (and before that, tight lacings) along the foot so common for so long?

Pete
Click to expand...

Fashion? As noted, my late father had this set up when I was a small boy, in the Fifties and Sixties.

Possibly the laced foot came in due to the popularity of round the boom roller reefing in the Sixties?

Possibly advances in materials have made the outhaul system for the loose foot more practical?

Possibly because with a loose foot you must sheet from the boom end?
 
prv said:
If loose footed is so much better (and I don't dispute that), why were boltropes in slots (and before that, tight lacings) along the foot so common for so long?

Pete
Click to expand...

With stretchy fabric, you have to distribute the sheet load into the sail. So you end up with load along a fair bit of the bolt rope, or the aft several slides or whatever.
With modern materials, the load can all go into the (well reinforced) clew. The rest of the foot has very little load on it.
 
lw395 said:
With stretchy fabric, you have to distribute the sheet load into the sail. So you end up with load along a fair bit of the bolt rope, or the aft several slides or whatever.
With modern materials, the load can all go into the (well reinforced) clew. The rest of the foot has very little load on it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. With a traditional working sail with vertical cloths, I can see you'd want all of those cloths secured to the boom at the bottom.

Pete
 
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