Flapping leach

[johnsail]

Jibs, mainsails -- there's a difference? My mistake!

Does the boat have a boom vang? It keeps the boom from lifting (and the leech from curving off) when the sheet is eased on a reach. The most simple vang is a line secured on the boom a few feet aft of the mast, then led down to a block on the deck, then running aft to a winch or cleat in the cockpit. There are more complicated (and powerful) systems.

As the boom lifts when you ease sheets, tighten the vang to keep the boom about parallel to the deck. A big plus for the line or tackle down to the sidedeck is that it prevents the boom from swinging around and hitting heads. A neurosurgeon friend of mine has counted two dozen plus fatalities from booms.

[Sailormann]

Uhmm - you do have battens in your sail don't you ? (I don't mean to be condescending but you mentioned that you haven't got a lot of experience so I think it's a good idea to start with the obvious) Battens are pieces of wood or fibreglass in pockets that open on your sail's leach. They run horizontal to the boom. If you have them, and if you have a channel for a leach line, but not line, then run a thin cord through the channel and make a new leach line. That will take care of it. There is a chance that your sail was made without a leach line, it is not unusual on smaller boats. In that case you could conceivably have a channel added to the sail. Finally, depending on the age of the sail, it is possible that it has become very stretched. In that case you either need to have it recut, or just fold the leach over and duct tape it in place until you can afford new ones

[mwrohde]

Thanks, all. I was back out on the boat today, and what do you know? It has a leach line. I just didn't know that such a thing existed or what is was for. Turns out that it works as advertised. Thanks much. I'll be back, I'm sure, with more questions.

[Loewe]

I love "discovery learning"! Only apply enough tension on the leech line to stop the flutter MW. If that results in significant cupping of the leech then the cloth is tired and if your concern is speed, (like Giu) then a trip to the loft is in order. Start saving now! As long as you are happy just out kicking around on the pond you can sail with that situation for a very long time. Which lake in GA?
Regards,
Red

[mwrohde]

Originally Posted by Loewe

Which lake in GA?

Lake Lanier

[Loewe]

Thought it might be Lanier. I was a member at ASC for a long time when I lived in Augusta. During the drought years some of the OD racing had to be done at our place on Strom Thurmond Lake. Always nice to have neighbors with water.
Regards,
Red