foresail position?

[blueranger]

Hi all,

New sailor needs a little help/advice on how a foresail should look and be set up. I had the tack attached to the plate on the bow, both lines on the clew running through tracks back into the cockpit. Everything seemed to work as it should except one problem.

The foresail attaches to the plate which is bolted to the deck at the bow. No matter what side the foresail was on, it's bunched up where it goes outside the lifelines. It's not going to catch much wind if I keep it inside the lifelines all the time.

So what should the foresail look like where it crosses over the lifelines and how can I fix this? Should there be a small bunched up section where it comes up over the lifelines? If it helps I'm sailing a Ranger 22' with a fractional rig. I had the cars on the track pretty far aft and although I'm not sure I would say it was a 110% or 120% genoa. Also I'm just a cruiser, not a racer.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm new to sailing and new to this boat. This weekend was the first time I was able to sail it with the foresail instead of just the main and what a difference! I just want to be sure I have it rigged correctly.

Thanks,
Mike

[sailingdog]

One thing you might be able to do is use a tack pennant, but this may require shortening the sail slightly. The bunched up part is pretty typical where it passes over the lifelines.

A tack pennant would also help you as a cruiser, as it allows the foot of the jib to be a bit higher off the deck and makes it easier to see past the jib. This is especially important when you're short-handed and don't have a full crew to keep watch ahead of the jib blind spot.

The tack pennant is just a short line that has a shackle on each end, and it connects the tack of the sail to the tack hook, allowing you to have the foot of the sail a bit higher than it would be without it.

[CharlieCobra]

This is probably the reason the former owner of my boat yanked off the lifelines. It's not like they're gonna keep ya on the boat anyways. The above is a good suggestion though.

[Gary M]

Unless you are sailing close hauled you will have the sail out over the life lines and it will do this. Off wind this is no big deal. You may be able to move your top life line down to the bottom portion of your bow pulipit so that the sail can pass out there. This allows you to maintain your lifelines.

You set the car for your sheet leads by paying attention to the ticklers on the head sail. If you do not have any you should get some and add them, typically 3 sets.

Basically you want a fairly even pull back and down so that the ticklers break at the same time when luffing up a little.

[blueranger]

Just wanted to say thank you for the help and answers. Figured out what those little rollers people have on their lifelines are for at the foredeck, I'll probably go that route and see if it helps. Looking forward to another weekend of good wind and full sails.

Thanks again for the help!

Mike