Unused ropes.

[Allan]

On my masthead sloop rigged Westerly 33 all the lines except the halyard for the furling genoa and the kicker are led back to the cockpit. It occured to me recently that I have never played with these two ropes. At what point would I need to tighten the kicker or adjust the tension on the genoa halyard?
Allan

 

[Twister_Ken]

At many points!

A book on sail trim in your Christmas stocking would be nice.

 

[johnalison]

Quite apart from the matter of sail shape, it is a good idea to ease the genoa halyard tension overnight or when leaving the boat to keep the luff from distorting, and it is often a good idea to ease it when furling or unfurling as this makes the operation much quicker, especially in a blow, when it is not uncommon to see people using a winch for what should be a simple task.

 

[MoodySabre]

I'm not a sail trim freak like some who will follow no doubt. I have left my genoa halyard at the mast and leave it not too tight as it does make the furling very hard work.

The kicker comes back to the cockpit and I use it:
a. to hold the boom down when the main is right out on a run - more sail to catch the wind. Otherwise the boom just rides up.
b. to flatten the main in a blow to prevent it getting too much wind in it. The main sheet partly has this function too but also is used to control the position of the boom and to dump (quickly let out) the sail in a gust.

Well that's what I do and it seems to work. Get a sail trim book and get very confused. Trial and error is the best way to learn.

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

Ken is right - at many points if racing, when you want if cruising.

kicker is there to hold the boom down particularly when running. handy when reaching if you dont have a track for the main.

foresail halyard controls sail shape and area of maximum draft. more tension in high winds, less in less wind.

but one of the attractions of sailing is messing around with all these sail controls to make the boat go faster

 

[Twister_Ken]

"foresail halyard controls sail shape and area of maximum draft. more tension in high winds, less in less wind."

And more tension upwind, less on a reach. On a run, naturally, you put up a kite!

 

[jimi]

In most yachts the kicker is not part of the sail trim mechanism , but merely a hold the boom down thingie, the genoa hayard on the other hand is,but watch out for halyard wrap if you don't tighten before furling!