Main Sail Modification

[MikadoII]

My boat is an S&S 30 where the boom is at about ear level to myself when standing in the cockpit. So far I have managed to avoid serious injury. I am thinking of moving the clew up the leech by about one foot to make it safer. What do people think of the idea.

[Stingo]

I like it.

[thomm225]

My boat was like that but I have a floating boom/goose neck so I just bought a sail with a shorter luff then tied a line to the mast as a boom stop about a foot higher up.

Leaving room also so I could tighten the downhaul.

The line and the downhaul block have both been replaced since the photoes were taked a few years ago.

[bullsails]

Originally Posted by MikadoII

My boat is an S&S 30 where the boom is at about ear level to myself when standing in the cockpit. So far I have managed to avoid serious injury. I am thinking of moving the clew up the leech by about one foot to make it safer. What do people think of the idea.

it was a bit of trend under IOR to get some extra non rated area. No problem to lift the clew, any sailmaker could do it, but just check the reefs are angled down at the back end as well?
To rectify that is a fair bit of work and maybe a new sail is in order

[Snore]

Sparkman and Stephens were an incredible design team. Altering one of their designs borders on blasphemy.

Also, calculate the number of square feet of sail area you will lose, then divide that by existing total sq Ft of sail. That is roughly how much slower the boat will be.

In the end it is your boat… I would counsel against it.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Snore

Sparkman and Stephens were an incredible design team. Altering one of their designs borders on blasphemy.

Also, calculate the number of square feet of sail area you will lose, then divide that by existing total sq Ft of sail. That is roughly how much slower the boat will be.

In the end it is your boat… I would counsel against it.

I removed about 2 feet from the luff of my mainsail to get the boom higher.

There was very little loss of boat speed, but any times we have pretty strong winds here so no problem.

Plus if you aren't racing a slight speed loss isn't a problem. It's usually all about the wind anyway

That was 2012.

My new main bought last month is about a foot longer that that 2012 mainsail but 6" shorter on the foot with 3 sets of reef points

Video is with old mainsail that was 2' shorter. Still had to reef it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iViRCw8KB2Y

[canvasman]

On my Bristol 27 I cut two feet off the top of my mainsail, slid it down and restitched it to the sail. I tapered the sail from the top batten to the bottom of the cut off piece. I cut off excess leech line and covered it along the tapered cut with a folded section of four inch, dacron sail cloth matching the rest of the sail. I was able to reuse the existing headboard, lost very little sail area and raised the boom eighteen inches. The sail sets perfectly, I can now stand under the boom and am able to fit a bimini. I have an industrial sewing machine so this may not be possible on something lightweight.

[Spot]

On my 'big' boat, the provided, matching brand sail was so long in the luff that the boom drug on the cabin top at full hoist and with insufficient tension to sail. I had a sailmaker take out enough for it to clear. Makes me wonder how often the original was sailed (could have been rolled on the roller boom) or if the boat was paired with this sail but never sailed, as if it were from a one size bigger boat.

[JBP]

One of the previous owners of my boat raised the boom. You can see the old rivet holes.

[hugosalt]

On my 30 ft fractional rig when specing my new mainsail I had sail cut 3-4? degrees higher from tac to clue l to accommodate bimini. Could not detect performance between old and new sail. Since boat is fractional rig main is still a very powerful sail with 13' foot. I don't race and not a technical sailor, so maybe I don't know any better!
If you don't race and your concern is for safety/possible injury I would not hesitate.

[Don C L]

Yeah, that's called a flattening reef. I have a similar problem but my sail has a flattening reef already and sometimes I just keep it on that all the time to keep the boom up and my head a little safer. You may want to adjust the outhaul when off the wind to reduce the effect on sail shape. A helmet might be a good purchase too.

[JPA Cate]

We had an S & S Yankee 30. It had an adjustable topping lift. If yours does, too, you could try topping it up an inch or two so it would clear your head, and if the sail looks poor at that point, get it cut down the slightest amount.

Ann

[sandy stone]

As Don C L said, the easiest thing to do (and undo, if you don't like it) is to put in a flattening reef. Bring the sail to a sailmaker and get him to put in a clew reef cringle a foot or so up the leech. Put the sail back on the boat and try it out using an existing reef line. If you like the way it works, rig a new permanent, dedicated reef line. I did this on my boat to get the boom to clear the bimini. Nothing to it.

[hlev00]

My main on a 42’ sloop hits the dodger when sheeting in. Problem was caused by the original owner specifying a dodger that was too tall. I talked to a sailmaker who said it was doable, but the cost to raise the clew and the reef points wasn’t worth it. I try not to look up and avoid close hauled as much as possible anyway.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by hlev00

My main on a 42’ sloop hits the dodger when sheeting in. Problem was caused by the original owner specifying a dodger that was too tall. I talked to a sailmaker who said it was doable, but the cost to raise the clew and the reef points wasn’t worth it. I try not to look up and avoid close hauled as much as possible anyway.

To recut the mainsail and make a new clew is going to be more, of course. But just adding a flattening reef reinforcement and cringle is not so bad; you just have to be ok with an extra bit of sail tucked in or hanging off the end of the boom.