Should I raise the jib higher?

[aj911501]

Hello!
This has been bothering me about my boat, and I am wondering if it's something I should actually be concerned about, or not.

My boat has a guard rail at the front and when I let out the jib, the rail interferes with the sail.

We noticed there is a bit of space left between the mast and the head of the sail where we could raise it higher, to at least reduce this.

My questions -

• Can I (or should I) raise this higher?
• If so, what is the best way of doing this? A length of rope or cable added to the the tack of the sail?
• Or am I just off base, and this is what it's supposed to do?

Thank you!

[Bellinghamster]

Yes! Plus full-hoist helps prevents the dreaded halyard wrap .

Add a pennant at the tack: Dyneema soft shackle, loop or dogbone, sewn loop of flat polyester webbing, or a couple loops of polyester cord. Best if you attach it to the tack of the sail without a metal shackle, as it'll rub on the foil when furled and you don't want to wear into the anodized foil (like my boats previous owner did)

You'll need to have a good look at the top of the forestay with the sail hoisted - some furlers have a halyard-wrap preventer that needs to be positioned correctly relative to the top swivel, and you want to make sure the foil extends all the way through the top swivel (i.e. the swivel doesn't hoist off the end of the foil).

Edit: Now that I zoomed in on your picture I see you have a hank-on sail not a furler - that makes it really easy to add a pennant.

[Cheechako]

I have often had the tack up on a cable pendant on my sea boats, but it was part of a plan when I ordered sails.
Example:

[SailingHarmonie]

First, do you have ROOM at the top to raise the sail?

What you are seeing is NORMAL for a high performance genoa. These sails are optimized for close hauled work, and are called "deck sweepers" for good reason. Having the foot of the sail right down literal touching the deck when sheeted in tight greatly improves windward performance. If you want to see pictures, just google "j-24 genoa images".

For the casual cruiser, however, they can be way more trouble than they are worth. For one thing, on other points of sail they tend to wear and chafe (as you observe!). They can get hung up on rails and stanchions while sheeting in. They also severely restrict visibility, and with a short-handed crew without an extra pair of eyes to constantly scan to leeward this can be a very real safety issue.

If this is a true deck-sweeping genoa it is unlikely that simply raising it up will give you a useful sail. You might be challenged to find a point far enough aft to lead the sheet to get anything like the appropriate twist in the leech.

[Don C L]

You can continue sailing as is with impunity. It is fairly common to see jibs and genoas rest on the pulpit, as long as there are no sharp edges of anything up there. But yes you can also raise the jib as high as it will go and put on a pennant as has been mentioned, and for your boat, rope or steel cable will be fine. The rope should be the kind of line that doesn't stretch, as in the same kind of line as the halyard. Maybe you have some extra lying around somewhere. As you raise the jib, you should also adjust the sheet lead which is the block that the jib sheet goes through on its way to the cockpit winch. It will need to be moved back a bit to keep the correct shape in the jib.

[Searles]

Raising the tack is easily done,just remember that you will also be raising the centre of effort of your sail plan ,in a small vsl this mayor may not be a consideration.⚓️⛵️