What is a mainsail luff?
Luff -A sail’s forward edge. The luff of the mainsail is usually hoisted up and attached to the mast. Tack – Between the luff and the foot is the tack. The tack is attached to the boat or a spar. Head – The corner at the top of the sail between the luff and the leech.
What controls the mainsail luff?
The basics of control are: LUFF TENSION: Controlled by the halyard, Cunningham, and boom downhaul if the boat is equipped with one. FOOT TENSION: Controlled by the outhaul and flattening reef.
What is leech and luff?
The luff is the forward or leading edge of a sail. The leech is the back edge of the sail. The clew is the bottom back corner of the sail (furthest from the mast).
What is luff tension?
LUFF TENSION: Tension on the leading edge of the sail is controlled by jib halyard and by jib Cunningham. The principal effect of luff tension is to position draft in the sail. Increased luff tension moves draft forward. Decreased luff tension moves draft aft.
What is mainsail roach?
The roach is the area of the sail aft of a line between the head and the clew. It provides a useful increase in sail area, but it comes at a price – battens.
How is a sail attached to a mast?
Boom attachment The forward end of the boom attaches to a mast just below the sail, with a joint called the gooseneck. The gooseneck pivots allowing the other end of the boom to move freely. The clew (back corner) of the sail attaches to the free end of the boom.
Can you sail with just the mainsail?
Can you sail with just the mainsail? Any sailboat can be sailed with the mainsail alone. Using only the mainsail will reduce your speed, but it can make your boat easier to handle, especially by yourself. Furthermore, using a mainsail alone is safer in some circumstances and can increase your visibility.
What is sail clew?
Clew. The corner where the leech and foot connect is called the clew on a fore-and-aft sail. On a jib, the sheet is connected to the clew; on a mainsail, the sheet is connected to the boom (if present) near the clew. Clews are the lower two corners of a square sail.
What does the outhaul do?
An outhaul is a control line found on a sailboat. It is an element of the running rigging, used to attach the mainsail clew to the boom and tensions the foot of the sail. It commonly uses a block at the boom end and a cleat on the boom, closer to the mast, to secure the line.
What is a staysail on a sailboat?
A staysail (“stays’l”) is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast (the mast is item 13 in the illustration right).
What are the strings on sails for?
A tell-tale, also known as a tell-tail, in a nautical or sailing context, is a piece of yarn or fabric attached to a sail, a stay, or any rigging on a sailboat. Typically, a tell-tail is on a port and a starboard stay. Tell-tales attached to a sail are used as a guide for trimming (adjusting) a sail.
Which sail do you raise first?
The first sail that you should raise is the mainsail, whether you intend to sail up or downwind. Next, you’ll raise either the jib or the spinnaker, depending on whether you expect to sell upwind, at a reach, or downwind.
What has happened to mainsail luffs?
Though at least one new product line for taming mainsail luffs has been introduced since we published that evaluation-Karvers KMS cars-there hasn’t been significant evolution in this realm. Other than advances in the batten end connectors, the mainsail tracks, cars, and slides used today are much the same as they were 10 years ago.
Who makes mainsail Luff tracks?
Dan Elliott of Ullman Sails in Cleveland, Ohio, has been making sails since 1978. Prior to changing the mainsail luff track system, he would advise our hypothetical boat owners to examine their luff track and lubricate it.
What is a Cunningham on a mainsail?
The Cunningham: Located on the luff, a short distance up from the tack is a reinforced ring called a cunningham. Its purpose is to adjust the amount of tension on the luff of the mainsail, which in turn controls the fore and aft location of the draft, or point of maximum curvature in the sail.
What should I do before changing my mainsail Luff track?
Prior to changing the mainsail luff track system, he would advise our hypothetical boat owners to examine their luff track and lubricate it. “After that, make sure that your slides are clean and not scuffed or nicked so that they move up and down the track and slide easily,” he said.