loose footed or track mainsail

[soverel28]

I am thinking of buying a new main for my soverel28. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of loose footed to reguler slide on foot. I don''t plan on winning races but I do like to be able to adjust the sail.
Thanks
Paul B

[Jeff_H]

I personally prefer a loose footed mainsail to a bolt roped shelf foot. The loose footed sail is adjustable through a wider range of adjustment and is substantially easier to remove from the boom. Properly cut, a loose footed sail does not require a flattening reef. For racing the loose footed sail gets a tiny amount of unrated additional sail area. I have not noticed any difference in ease of flaking or durability between the two(although the shelf foots can quickly get pretty beat up and stretched out).

Jeff

[bporter]

You have way more abaility to adujust a loose footed main. Depending on the configuration you may find tht your outhaul does next to nothing on a slide on main. I''ve seen this on some sails - haul the outhaul as much as you want, there is just too much friction to really pull the foot tight.

With a loose foot the outhaul can have a huge impact on your sail trim. This will have more of an impact downwind, since you can really loosen the sail up a lot.

Having had both, my personal preference is for loose footed.

[sailorman_10]

Given that loose footed sails are more adjustable, can one fly a bolt-rope type footed sail out of the track like a loose-footed sail?

[Jeff_H]

Not necessarily, because not all mainsails are reinforced at the tack equally. Loose footed and shelf foot mainsails have bigger and stronger tack patches.

Jeff

[soverel28]

Thanks for the info

Paul B