Question on plastic tube inside a genoa sail

[Gitane]

I have a question about my furling genoa sail.

Just behind the sail's luff rope, there is what appears to be a thick flexible plastic tube along, more or less, the whole of the luff of the sail. It doesn't seem to be attached to anything and it's sewn inside a pocket of the sail.

As it is not attached to anything, the tube tends to ride down the sail pocket, and the bottom part of the tube folds into a sort of S shape inside the sail pocket to support the rest of the tube.

Does anyone know what this tube is for and whether it should actually be attached to any part of the sail, and if so, how?

Thanks
Ron

 

[sailorman]

I have a question about my furling genoa sail.

Just behind the sail's luff rope, there is what appears to be a thick flexible plastic tube along, more or less, the whole of the luff of the sail. It doesn't seem to be attached to anything and it's sewn inside a pocket of the sail.

As it is not attached to anything, the tube tends to ride down the sail pocket, and the bottom part of the tube folds into a sort of S shape inside the sail pocket to support the rest of the tube.

Does anyone know what this tube is for and whether it should actually be attached to any part of the sail, and if so, how?

Thanks
Ron

assume yours is a Crusader Sail.
it is there to take up the fullness of the sail as its furled.

 

[Gitane]

Thanks,

Yes it's a Crusader sail.

As the tube is there to take up the sail's fullness when the sail it's being furled, should the bottom part of the tube indeed be S shaped to pick up the fullness of the bottom part of the sail?

Ron

 

[sailorman]

Thanks,

Yes it's a Crusader sail.

As the tube is there to take up the sail's fullness when the sail it's being furled, should the bottom part of the tube indeed be S shaped to pick up the fullness of the bottom part of the sail?

Ron

tube should be straight & fill the length of the sleeve it sits in.
A call to Paul Lees @ Crusader might help

 

[MoodySabre]

I concur with Sailorman. I bought a new Crusader genoa last year. The 'tube' is a rope, partly single and in the middle section double, to pad the luff. Sounds like yours has slipped.

 

[Gitane]

I concur with Sailorman. I bought a new Crusader genoa last year. The 'tube' is a rope, partly single and in the middle section double, to pad the luff. Sounds like yours has slipped.

Thanks.

Yes, it does have a double middle section.

I had a go at unpicking a small section of the sail last night to see what the tube was actually made of, as I wasn't sure if it was a rope or a piece of plastic. It turns out to be a semi-flexible plastic tube.

There is no way the tube will stand up by itself as the retaining pocket is quite wide.

I think I will put a few well placed stitches in the sail pocket to see if this will keep the tube in place.