Sail query

N

nutzuns

New Member
Out racing at our club yesterday in quite stong, gusty conditions (leading from the rear) and noticed that on a beat, other full rigs around me seem to have more curve in the leech - looking up that part of my sail appears flat, the battens seem very flat, with a vertical crease running down the sail just before the battens (from years of folding I guess)- its a pretty old sail I think. My question is, are the battens meant to have any curve in them, or be tensioned in the pockets to achieve a curve?

I've had the boat for about 6 weeks now but hadnt noticed this before, yesterday was the strongest winds I'd been out in. For info I was running with very little cunningham and double blocked on the beats (when I remembered!).
 
Hmm...
1. Laser battens are strait, they're intended to be strait.
2. I think the leech was twisting off, from what you describe. If you're hiking to keep the boat flat, you should have the mainsheet block at the end of the boom touching the traveler block. you should then take the slack out of the vang. That will tighten the leech.
 
Thanks computeroman2 I am going to be new to sailing soon and I have been reading some books tring to uderstand the laser basics and the way you worded this thread makes sence now.
 
Cheers, I'll give that a try - so it makes a difference pulling on the vang even if i am already block to block using main only?
 
Yes. The vang pulls from a different spot on the boom than the mainsheet does. When you pull the mainsheet down, it pulls on only the very tip of the mast, tightening only the end of the leech. The vang tends to pull the sail flatter farther forward, and it also pushes the boom into the mast, causing the mast to bend from the bottom instead of the top.
 
also, if you cant keep the boat flat, yank on the cunningham! my coach said he had the eyelet hole all the way on the boom when he couldnt keep the boat flat.
 
My guess is that would be when beating in heavy conditions, other than that my understanding is just to take the creases out of the luff, no more?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top