Winston29
Active Member
By "Shelf-Foot" I mean that the foot of the sail has extra material, below the bolt-rope, that leaves it baggy at the bottom/foot. It actually folds over itself when running into the wind.
The idea, I'm told, is that when sailing downwind in light air, the sail will have more camber and "balloon" out more at the foot, catching the wind. I hear this is a good thing.
I ask this because while my factory Catalina sails did not have this sewn into them, my new (& very expensive) custom sails, do, and I'm not sure it's going to work.
The extra material at the foot means that the head of the sail reaches higher on the mast, and I fear I'm running out of room at the top.
In photos it looks like the shackle is running into the pulley at the top of the mast, keeping me from fully tensioning the luff, without using more downhaul and "worsening" the baggy foot.
Even without the extra material at the foot, the new sails are 8.5" taller than the old sailcloth. I lay my new sail on top of my old sail, with the foot of the sails lined up with each other, and got 8.5" at the top (then you have to add the "shelf").
I've been looking through pictures of 14.2's, but have yet to find one with the Shelf-Foot designed sails, even though SLO says this is a very common race design.
I'm wondering if lowering my gooseneck might help by making more room at the top of the mast, but I'm not sure if this is a recommended, or even possible, procedure or not.
Has anyone run into this when getting new sails?
The idea, I'm told, is that when sailing downwind in light air, the sail will have more camber and "balloon" out more at the foot, catching the wind. I hear this is a good thing.
I ask this because while my factory Catalina sails did not have this sewn into them, my new (& very expensive) custom sails, do, and I'm not sure it's going to work.
The extra material at the foot means that the head of the sail reaches higher on the mast, and I fear I'm running out of room at the top.
In photos it looks like the shackle is running into the pulley at the top of the mast, keeping me from fully tensioning the luff, without using more downhaul and "worsening" the baggy foot.
Even without the extra material at the foot, the new sails are 8.5" taller than the old sailcloth. I lay my new sail on top of my old sail, with the foot of the sails lined up with each other, and got 8.5" at the top (then you have to add the "shelf").
I've been looking through pictures of 14.2's, but have yet to find one with the Shelf-Foot designed sails, even though SLO says this is a very common race design.
I'm wondering if lowering my gooseneck might help by making more room at the top of the mast, but I'm not sure if this is a recommended, or even possible, procedure or not.
Has anyone run into this when getting new sails?