The gap is where your halyard is tied to the gaff, and it should be much longer to facilitate tuning variations. And the foot sleeve is pointless anyway.
But if you only have attachment at the front and back of the Sail wouldn't you lose a lot of air along the length of the boom being new to this I'm not all that clear on sailing aerodynamics but it would seem the more sail you have attached along the length of the Boom the more air you would catch and your craft would be more efficient what am I missing hereI've been told that in the English language (although there is some debate about this!), a "rope" becomes a "line" when it gets a specific function on a boat. And of course, every line has a specific name that describes that function. (Or several - it's the synonyms that are hard for newbies.)
By "pointless" I meant that the foot only needs to be attached at the ends.
You actually don't. The boom doesn't really work as an effective endplate, and air "leaks" from the high-pressure side around the foot anyway.But if you only have attachment at the front and back of the Sail wouldn't you lose a lot of air along the length of the boom
All true. About the only semi-effective end plate rig is a deck sweeper jib that sits right down on the foredeck and does not alow (much) air to leak from one side of the sail to the other.You actually don't. The boom doesn't really work as an effective endplate, and air "leaks" from the high-pressure side around the foot anyway.
Even classes that used to have the foot completely attached to the boom have gone loose-footed later, such as the 505. It's just simpler.
Except the footed, sleeve'd sail helps keep the mainsheet out of the life jacket ;-D. I agree it is pointless and the sleeves inhibit altering luff and foot tension to some degree.The gap is where your halyard is tied to the gaff, and it should be much longer to facilitate tuning variations. And the foot sleeve is pointless anyway.
That's because these metal sail clips hadn't been invented yet.An added thought. Most serious Sunfish racers do not use the plastic sail clips as they often jam from tack to tack and crack over time,
Alan Glos