Sail Recognition, any ideas?

xeitosaphil

xeitosaphil

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I have a sail which is made out of material similar to light weight Spinnaker cloth. However the luff has what looks to be like an 8mm Bolt rope sewn into the leading edge.
It has reinforced Tack, Head, and a Clew with S/S rings fitted.

It does not have any Piston Hanks, so not a Fore sail as such, set on a Fore Stay.

The Foot and Leech both have Leech lines fitted into them for adjustment.

Could it be an early Cruising Chute, or maybe a Reaching Genoa.

Luff measures 11 Meters, Foot measures 7.3 Meters,
Leech measures 10 Meters

Foot and Leech both have Roach, if that’s the right term?

If it is a Reaching Genoa do you fly it like a Chute but with a fixed Tack?

Cheers Philip
 
Nope, Luff rope is solid like a bolt rope no stretch.

So what is a Blooper, and how do you use it?

Do you set it like a Genoa but with a pole and adjust the leach lines to give you shape like a Spinnaker.

I'll have to do some research on a " Blooper "
 
spinnaker to the weather side blooper the other to fill the gap flown loose

3142MorningstarsComposite-620x350.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hope it’s not one of them then!!

Most of my sailing is Single handed it gives me the willies just looking at those photos, I don't even fly a Spinnaker, thanks for putting them up anyway.

As the Luff is only 0.4 mtr longer that my Genoa Luff could I fly it like a Chute?

I think the first thing I should do is try to fly it on a quiet day and see what shape it is. I'll try to get a photo and report back as it might be more easily assessed.
 
sailorman said:
spinnaker to the weather side blooper the other to fill the gap flown loose

3142MorningstarsComposite-620x350.jpg
Click to expand...

40 years ago I used to crew a boat that did the EAORA races that had one of those. Have not seen anyone flying one in the last 10 years.
Have the racing rules banned them or altered the ratings to make them redundant

Great fun if we had the right course to use it but did we have to work hard!!
 
xeitosaphil said:
" having seen some images of a Drifter online it does look similar "

as seen on the ink.

http://www.yagersails.com/drifter_mainsail.htm

But I'm just off to the boat to see if I can get a photo.
Click to expand...


Managed to get a few photos of the sail set today as wind was just right 0-4mph

A couple on the berth adjacent to me recond it's a Cruising Chute as they have something similar. I was told by others that Cruising Chutes don't have a stitched in bolt rope which is why I questioned it.

Perhaps now it can be seen flying I can get a definite answer to its type.

If it is a Cruising Chute, should the Luff fore stay measurement be the same as a Genoa or should it be over sized, and if so, is mine ok at 500mm extra in length or should I get it reduced?

After playing about with it for a couple hours getting the leads and fixings right, I have now got it rigged on a adjustable tack rope back to the cockpit, so I could sheet it down to the deck if necessary to loose the extra length.

If it is a Cruising chute, if set without a mainsail when taking down would it be normal to strike it from the Tack leaving the halyard and recovering it from the sheet. or is it better to run with a mainsail set same side, or even goose winged, then when coming to drop, come onto set same side strike tack and retrieve under the boom.

Last question honest , when changing direction from port to starboard tack and walking the sheet around the forestay do you sheet the tack down tight or let it fly to give you more room to get it through?

Sorry for the additional questions but never set or used one before.

Thanks Philip
 
looks like the cruising version of a ghoster, drifter, floater etc.
we used to race in the 80's with a compliment of No1 gennys, Heavy, medium, light and Ghoster (spinnaker type material with a bolt rope) also hoisted in the groove not loose as a cruising chute.
 
The fact that the sail has got a bolt rope says to me that it is a Drifter. Certainly our cruising chute is built like a spinnaker with no bolt rope and I haven't seen a cruising chute that has got a bolt rope.
As for gybing there seem to be two schools of thought. The first is to gybe 'through the slot' in which case it may make sense for you to release tension on the tack. The other school is to gybe the sail right around the front of the luff. If doing it this way you have to be sure you don't let the lazy sheet drop down below the bow and sail over it. We haven't played with ours enough to have yet come to a firm conclusion.
When striking the sail we always release the tack and pull it in under the boom and down the companion way. The other possibility is to use a sock but we don't have one and I've never had the opportunity to try one.
I think it's all a case of suck it and see.
Good luck, it looks like a useful light airs sail.
 
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