Blown out sails - worn out (resin and panel/seam orientation) = the stability and the preformed shape built into the sail is now deteriorated or stretched - obviously accounts for poor performance. The cloth in a worn out sail has become unstable and now stretches on the bias - accounting for the draft moving aft in most panel oriented sails (typical dacron cruising sail panel layout). Film sails typically show wear from delaminating, scrim and film separate and lose shape and strength. As a stop gap measure, an excessive amount of cunningham tension (or halyard tension) on the mainsail luff will move the draft forward BUT it is still too deep and this sometimes causes the leech to hook to weather. Headsails don't respond to this bandaid method as well because they don't have an outhaul to tension the foot and with additional halyard tension the draft moves FAR forward and is still showing too much draft where it is not needed, so you may notice the effects there first - BOTH sails being 'blown out', really just worn out, due to lack of stabile cloth - will adversely affect pointing - Max. draft moved aft at headsail = poor pointing. Draft moved aft in mainsail and hooked leech= poor pointing. For very Light Air - you want a 'fine or flat flat entry' - relatively flat in the front edge of the sail - as wind speed builds - add draft to the sail - less halyard tension or cunningham/downhaul until the sail becomes over powered, Heavy Air - flat sail with more twist to allow the head to depower. 'New' sails are built to have these shapes built in to the sail - it is impossible to use adjustments to restore a deteriorated sail to a good performing sail. This may help with 'blown out' sails but it is akin to a worn out engine - the sails are tired and performance will suffer - no mystery oil for sails - as in re-resin applications. When you get new well shaped and built sails you will fall in love with your boat AGAIN! I am fortunate and have managed to acquire two suits of sails - one suit is 'serviceable' and the other suit I save for racing or ? - When you replace your sails, do a side by side comparison as you may need to adjust your rig. See the book "Sail Power" by Wallace Ross, North Sails has a fine tome on sail trim, or check with a sailmakers online site ie. Ullman Sails, North, Hild and they will have information to help you get sails well trimmed AND how to properly store your sails. - we are lucky-our sails are short enough on the foot to roll them, rather than fold and thereby slow the 'blown out' process. If you can, store them indoors out of the heat,cold and rodents. Always wash with fresh water after sailing in salt! Advances in materials and methods have dramatically improved the quality and durability of modern sails - "Pretty sails" can make a tired looking boat sail well - A "pretty boat" with tired sails is a disappointing sailing craft. We sail very well designed boats and they will reward your time and experience with GOOD SAILS. Good luck,Take Care Have fUn, go sailing GO fairandsquare1@gmail.com -----Original Message----- From: Dave Scobie <scoobscobie@gmail.com> To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wed, Jun 20, 2018 5:24 pm Subject: Re: M_Boats: Bow pulpit. My boat did not come with a bow pulpit. Is there any resource for getting one made or used. I'm thinking with blown sails it matters how the sail is blown. Where the draft is set and so many other things ... in addition to how the main is blown v the headsail. Sweet Pea's sails are shot. The main and 150 are about equally bad. I'm playing with more rake but it is like tuning a Yugo ... still bad and disappointing. The 110 working jib is OK-ish and sets better so I notice the difference when switching to that sail. When I reef the main the sail sets and drives the boat more cleanly. In general Sweet Pea's way past operational age sails have made the helm too neutral. Her performance is driving me nuts! :: Dave Scobie :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - m17-375.com On Wed, Jun 20, 2018, 5:11 PM John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> wrote:
On Tue, Jun 19, 2018, 1:39 PM , <jerry@jerrymontgomery.org> wrote:
Jason- the 17 will sail far better with about 10 or 12" of rake- the exact amount depends on what kind of shape your main is in.
What is the correlation between rake and new vs. older sails, Jerry? In other words - a nice crisp brand new sail works best with more rake, or less rake? Older sails better with more rake, or less rake?
For those curious about angles that correspond to 10-12 inches, 10 inches aft of vertical at masthead is ~2.2 degrees. 12 inches is ~2.7 degrees.
I did angle calcs when getting my new stays. With turnbuckles at 50/50 fore and aft, I am at ~1.2 degrees aft rake (about 5.5 inches at masthead).
Handy trig tool (lots of these online): http://www.pagetutor.com/trigcalc/trig.html
cheers, John
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com