What is the leech on a sail?
Leech – The sail’s back edge. 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.
Where is the leach on a sail?
Leech – The aft (back) edge of a fore-and-aft sail is called the leech (also spelled leach). The leech is either side edge of a symmetrical sail—triangular or square.
What is the luff and the leech on a sail?
This is different from the three sided sail where head refers to a corner. 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 are keels on a sailboat?
The keel is often a structural beam that runs in the middle of the boat from bow to stern. The purpose of the keel is to help give the boat greater stability and control while moving forward. Without the keel, a boat might slip or skim on the water which is often common in vessels with an entirely flat bottom.
What is a cunningham on a sailboat?
The Cunningham is an adjustment used to tension the luff of the mainsail to move the draft forward, offsetting the wind’s efforts to push the draft aft. Most mainsails come standard with a Cunningham cringle on the luff above the tack.
How do you stop leech flapping?
To properly adjust a leech cord, simply tighten the cord ‘just until’ the leech stops fluttering. If you tighten any more than ‘just enough’ a leech will ‘cup up’ and cause turbulence ….. the second most important ‘aero’ shape of a sail is to have the leech smooth and flat (and not vibrating) & not “cupped-up”.
What is a genoa on a sailboat?
A genoa sail is a type of large jib or staysail that extends past the mast and so overlaps the main sail when viewed from the side, sometimes eliminating it. It was originally called an “overlapping jib” and later a genoa jib. It is used on single-masted sloops and twin-masted boats such as yawls and ketches.
Do all sailboats have keels?
Mostly all boats have a keel, except the flat bottom boats. Big boats such as sailboats, yachts, ships have big keels. Small boats also have a keel but, they are not as big as the keels on the big boats like sailboats, yachts, ships. Only for a flat bottom boats, you won’t see any keel, rest, all the boats have a keel.
Can you sail without a keel?
The short answer is yes, but there are many different types of keel available. Some keels are retractable for sailing through shallow water, while other boat keels are completely removable.
What is an outhaul on a sailboat?
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 downhaul on a boat?
The downhaul is a line which is part of the rigging on a sailboat; it applies downward force on a spar or sail. The most common downhaul on a modern sailboat is attached to the spinnaker pole, though this may be referred to as the foreguy in some rigging nomenclature.
What is a Cunningham on a sailboat?
What is the Leech on a sail called?
Leech – The aft (back) edge of a fore-and-aft sail is called the leech (also spelled leach ). The leech is either side edge of a symmetrical sail—triangular or square. However, once a symmetrical sail has wind blowing along its surface, whether on a reach or close-hauled, the windward leech may be called a luff (see below).
How do you remove a leech line from a sail?
Hoist the sail to its normal position and trim all control lines (halyard, boom downhaul, outhaul, vang) normally. The leech line should be released from its cleats. Pull the end of the leech line at the clew until the leech stops fluttering but not so much that the leech begins to cup to windward.
Can you add a leech line to a sail loft?
Most new sails today come with leech lines built-in, particularly on larger sailboats. A sail loft can add a leech line to almost any sail. Considering the age of my sails and the simplicity of this project, I decided to add leech lines myself to the mainsail and jib.
Why is my Leech sail drooping?
Leech telltales that droop or hide on the lee side of the leech indicate a stalled sail. Most often, this results from sheeting the main too hard. The leech does not have enough twist near the head.