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Old 13-10-2017, 13:02   #1
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Headsail luff crease

Hi all. Hope u can help. I furled my 140% headsail the other day in 25k and noticed a twist in the lower part of the headsail. Havent noticed this before but maybe i just havent seen it till now. It appears lower part of sail is furling more material than the top and causing a twist. My thoughts are:

maybe the thicker material on the foot due to reinforcing is causing this. I did get a sail maker to sew some leather at the foot to reduce chafe on lifelines some time ago.

Maybe the luff foam padding on the upper part of the sail has lost its bulk due to age and wear and tear.

Note the sail is 6 years old and done about 15000nm but appears in good condition. The luff extrusions are all ok.

Any other ideas?

Regards Andrew
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Old 13-10-2017, 13:22   #2
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Re: Headsail luff crease

Quote:
Originally Posted by elandra65 View Post
Hi all. Hope u can help. I furled my 140% headsail the other day in 25k and noticed a twist in the lower part of the headsail. Havent noticed this before but maybe i just havent seen it till now. It appears lower part of sail is furling more material than the top and causing a twist. My thoughts are:

maybe the thicker material on the foot due to reinforcing is causing this. I did get a sail maker to sew some leather at the foot to reduce chafe on lifelines some time ago.

Maybe the luff foam padding on the upper part of the sail has lost its bulk due to age and wear and tear.

Note the sail is 6 years old and done about 15000nm but appears in good condition. The luff extrusions are all ok.



Any other ideas?

Regards Andrew
Is this the first time you have furled in this much wind? I know with our boat if we furl in too much wind the rolls get to be too tight and the finished furl isn't smooth. It corrects itself when we let it out in less wind and then refurl it. I don't think it has anything to do with the cloth or that there is a problem with the furler itself.
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Old 13-10-2017, 14:05   #3
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Re: Headsail luff crease

There is a sun cover on the foot = 2x as much material. Normally the foam is left out of the last foot or so to compensate, but it often ends up a little fatter anyway. It's probably always been like that.
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Old 13-10-2017, 15:16   #4
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Re: Headsail luff crease

It's unclear what the extra material in the sail's foot is for, the bit near the headstay & in the sail just aft of there. As it looks as if it's sailcloth, but there's no reason to have extra sailcloth right there since the sail is above the lifelines in that area, & it's not cloth reinforcements such as you'd find at the tack or clew.


More pics would certainly help things. And if you want judgements on sail shape, & whether or not it's getting old (blown out), trim things in, in close hauled mode, in 15-20kts & take pics looking up the luff while laying on your back. So that we can get a good feel for what the draft looks like. And when doing this, it's important to have you sheet cars appropriately positioned, the halyard at the right setting, & someone who can drive upwind passably well on the helm.
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Old 15-10-2017, 05:30   #5
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Re: Headsail luff crease

It is pretty normal to get creases here when partly furled. Yours mite be worse than normal due to the heavy tack patch, and also we can't see how high the foam luff starts. But its not really anything to worry about.
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Old 17-10-2017, 13:18   #6
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Re: Headsail luff crease

Thanks for all your replies. I have furled it in higher winds before but never noticed a twist but maybe i was busy with other things. The foam luff pad starts about 5ft off the deck and just above the reinforcing. My sails have double ply foot and leech. The foot of the headsail was rubbing on the top lifeline hence a length of leather reinforcing was added a couple of years ago. Shape wise the sail is good unfurled. It was checked by a sail maker last year. I am sure though it wasnt like this when new as quite a bit of sailing and furling was done in the Carribean where i bought the boat and new sails. I will try unfurling and furling to this position in lighter winds and see what it does when the wind gets up.

Thanks for all your help.
Regards Andrew
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Old 17-10-2017, 18:33   #7
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Re: Headsail luff crease

A bit unlikely but it's worth checking the tack swivel isn't sticking under load.
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Old 18-10-2017, 14:45   #8
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Re: Headsail luff crease

There's a chance that given that it has foam in the luff, to help with shape when partially furled, that the foam may be permanently compressed to some degree, thus altering it's furled shape a bit & causing the creases. Some lofts use other materials besides foam in order to avoid this.
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Old 18-10-2017, 14:53   #9
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Re: Headsail luff crease

This sure looks about normal in your image. Nothing to worry about unless I am missing sth.

Cheers,
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Old 18-10-2017, 14:55   #10
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Re: Headsail luff crease

Yep. The foam compresses but you can replace it. It is plain eva foam, one hour job for the loft. 100 bucks max on a 40 footer.

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