Dry sail/wet sail

[triguy46]

For the past month, I've been posting all kinds of newbie questions about my sunfish, set up, rigging, etc. Last night I just gathered everything up, put it in the water and sailed.

Lo and behold, it all makes sense, and many of my questions I can now see could have been answered by getting the boat wet.

My only comment, esp. after yesterday's discussion on low boom/high boom, is that with a recreational sail without a window, the low boom race set up sure makes for limited visibility. Other than that, all went great.

Though fooling around with boats is fun, fooling around in a boat is better

 

[Wavedancer]

Agreed!

A sailmaker can put a window in your (recreational) sail.

 

[mike4947]

Well Steve now you know why they started putting windows in Sunfish sails. I know I had a lot of "damn! where did he come from?" issues before I got my first window.
Originally windows were very short in height and long. Currently they've are the same area, but shorter and wider/higher.
The "original windows" were designed on the theory that you needed them most when hiked out flat so a narrow window with a wide field of vision was the norm. The window evolved into it's current shape as folks found they needed a window in other than flat out hiking conditions.

 

[triguy46]

Yes, pretty obvious in the first 10 seconds off the boat ramp. No biggie, just a comment. Think I'll pass on having the current rec. sail windowed, will wait for the racing sail.

Speaking of that, do racers travel with spars bare and tie on the sail at the lake? Don't want to look like a total dork...
Steve

 

[mike4947]

Most don't. Since the "racing norm" is a combination of ties and clips it can be a pain to reset a sail once you get it where you like it. Other than letting the outhaul and cunningham loose it's rolled up as it's setup.

 

[imported_Scott]

Just to clarify Mike's comment, put the spars together and roll the sail up next to them. Wrapping the sail around the spars can eventually wear pin holes in the sail from the gooseneck and blocks. If you can afford it, a sail bag will make your sail last longer.