In a message dated 12/13/04 1:08:43 PM Eastern Standard Time, nbundek@earthlink.net writes:
he purchased a new "loose footed" main and had in increase in performance.
I don't think the difference between a loose-footed mainsail and a mainsail that is tracked on a boom would be detectable, if both sails are competently shaped, set up, and trimmed. One imagines there's something of an "endplate" effect with a mainsail tracked on a boom combined with a substantial "shelf" cut into the sail. The improvement in performance you mention might simply have come about because the sail was new and not blown out---not because it was loose footed. The loose footed mainsail is a little quicker to strike into its bag if you must dismantle the whole rig at the end of the day. Cheers, John