Tell tales.

[doug748]

My genoa tall tales, as applied by the sailmaker, are starting to come adrift. I had intended to poke holes with a bodkin (heated?) and put wool in place, as per dinghy practice. Maybe that could lead to problems?

Any information as to the best spot to place extra telltales to accommodate reefing positions or links to sites you have found useful or, indeed general tips - all welcome. Thanks.

The sail is off a masthead 32 ft boat, roller reefed.

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[Tomahawk]

What is the sail made of?

 

[capnsensible]

I've always used stick on ones. Seem to do the job. But once you start rolling in, airflow over the inboard side of the sail gets a bit swirly.

 

[doug748]

What is the sail made of?

Dacron - bog standard

 

[Skylark]

Another vote for stick on.

 

[neil_s]

In my experiments, stick-on ones can stick to the sail when it's rainy. Wool is best, flies well, doesn't stick in the wet, but is not so easy to get hold of these days. Acrylic is not so good - it flies OK for a while but then unravels into a small bush. I have a whole ball of acrylic wool in a drawer, somewhere .......

 

[sailor211]

I use wool, works as well or better than stick on ones

 

[LadyInBed]

In my experiments, stick-on ones can stick to the sail when it's rainy. Wool is best, flies well, doesn't stick in the wet, but is not so easy to get hold of these days. Acrylic is not so good - it flies OK for a while but then unravels into a small bush. I have a whole ball of acrylic wool in a drawer, somewhere .......

My stick on ones are wool (I think)! I think that they came from force4.

 

[Stemar]

Get a few pads for stick-on ones and the actual tell-tail can be any material you like.

 

[TernVI]

The pad for stick-on tell tales can be cut from self-adhesive sailcloth. Or even spinnaker repair tape.