pennant placement

[QuickMick]

I am going to put a pennant on my jib to address a halyard wrap problem on my rolling furler.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of placing it at the head or the tack?

hope you are all well,
Quinn

[tommays]

You want it on the tack so the head is close to the haylard to help stop the wrap issue and its a lot better for tacking and visability off the deck

[Faster]

I think it's the height of the swivel that's the key, so whether the pennant is top or bottom shouldn't matter wrt halyard wrap. So you're down to whether or not you want the visiblilty, as tommays suggests, or to keep the center of effort lower on the rig (which could reduce heeling a bit) by putting the pennant on the head.

[Sanduskysailor]

Definitely at the head. My old boat had a #3 that needed a pennant. Why would anyone want to raise the center of effort by putting it at the tack? If you have an short luff most likely it is a smaller headsail which most likely will see higher winds. Let's see now- tack off deck about 18" due to roller furling drum, add another 1-1/12 feet for a pennant making sail about 3 feet off the deck. Visibility would be no problem but all you will see with that set-up is water as your boat heels over with the slightest puff.

[sailingfool]

I also concur to put the pennant on the head, however, if it is very long, be sure that the luff tape runs up the pennant also, so the pennant wraps with the sail. An experienced sailmaker will know to do this...

[GeorgeB]

Yes, raising the head by putting the pendant on the tack puts the sail higher and in cleaner air. This allows the sail to be more efficient. If the winds are such that the boat is hard to manage even with this shortened headsail, move the fairleads aft to flatten the lower portion and allow the head to “crack off”. This will ease the heeling moment. What purpose does putting the pendant at the head? Isn’t this the same as using a halyard only?

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by GeorgeB

...What purpose does putting the pendant at the head? Isn’t this the same as using a halyard only?

No...a halyard is above the furler swivel whereas the pennant is below the swivel. A pennant allows the swivel to always be raised to full hoist, or to whatever height proper operation of the furler requires, regardless of the luff length of the sail. Most jibs on a furler should already provide adequate visibility...putting the pennant on the tack creates some problems, putting it on the head leaves the jib as designed.

[QuickMick]

I just went up the mast to replace a jammed halyard for this operation, and would prefer not to do it again to rig this thing. Soooo... if i were to rig it at the head.... im thinking....
1. raise jib without attaching it to the tack. get it to the point where halyard is at the block.
2. measure distance between tack and furler to find pennant lenght needed.
3. lower sail.
4. make pennant, rig to head and swivel, raise, rig to tack and then fly off into the wild blue yonder furling to my hearts content...
sound like a reasonable plan?

Conversely to rig to tack would seem the eaiser option. sail to swivel, raise w/o tack affixed then rig pennant to tack at desired heigth....

ive got 3 headsails, this one is the middle sized. maybe i should just put the big one on, hope for a perfect fit and drink some beer. lol. thanks for all your input

[GeorgeB]

I didn’t think of placing the pendant between the swivel and the head. Dumb question: By not having the head directly attached to the swivel, doesn’t one run the risk of pulling the luff tape out of the track in stronger breezes?

[Faster]

I think SF addressed that point in an earlier post:

Originally Posted by sailingfool

I also concur to put the pennant on the head, however, if it is very long, be sure that the luff tape runs up the pennant also, so the pennant wraps with the sail. An experienced sailmaker will know to do this...