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Pros and Cons of Loose Footed Sails

22K views 30 replies 15 participants last post by  scurvy 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

Just received a quote from North Sails, and noticed that they recommend the loose foot sails for their cruising customers. Been sailing a while now and have never owned or considered owning one...but my reasons for prejudice toward the standard cut may be unfounded as I know very little about the aspects or advantages of the loose foot. Any info you might offer on this subject will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Chris
 
#29 · (Edited)
Pigslo-

Wrote that when I was tired.. should be two separate things... Easier to reef. Easier to tension as there is less friction in the system than a bolt-rope main. :D

The easier to reef has nothing to do with the bolt rope... for instance, I have sail ties for the reefing points wrapped around the boom...just waiting for the sail to drop...They're bright orange, so they're easy to see—so I don't try to un-reef with them still attached.
 
#30 · (Edited)
I somehow missed that sneider has already made my point.

A point that was raised earlier is that the entire stress is shared by the tack and the clew. That is fine if you have end of boom sheeting. If you have mid-boom sheeting, I would be cautious about placing all the stress one way on the ends and the opposite direction in the middle; particularly on a jibe.

Cheers
Dennis
 
#31 ·
LazyGuy said:
If you have mid-boom sheeting, I would be cautious about placing all the stress one way on the ends and the opposite direction in the middle; particularly on a jibe.
This is a good point, and I think it might have been mentioned earlier (snider?)concerning boom damage, but it brings up a good question:

Any difference in performing a gybe with a loose footed sail vs bolt-rope?
 
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