what kind of sails?

CaptainDaniel · #1 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

Warning: beginner question, no dumb comments needed.

I have 3 sails and am wondering what they are. They came with my boat which I found out is supposed to be Bermuda rigged.

48' by 48' by 24 Since this is the biggest, I assume it's the main sail.

32' by 27' by 16' (corner of 16 and 32 is labeled "bottom foot")

37' by 41' by 10.5'

The smaller sails are jibs? Why the different sizes?

Anlyn · #2 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

The biggest is not necessarily the mainsail. I am assuming they are all out of heavy dacron or is the largest multi coloured ie a symmetrical spinnaker?

If all similar material then sounds to me like the first is a 150% Genoa as a main wouldn't have two sides the same length. The second is the main and the smallest is a jib.

But there should be a range of obvious differences between the main and foresails. Probably the best bet is to get someone with a bit of basic knowledge to point them out to you.

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

You seem to be really good at asking questions but not giving any of the necessary relevant information to get decent answers... GARBAGE IN ====> GARBAGE OUT. The more information you give about what you're asking about, the higher the chance of getting no WISEASS comments and a decent answer. If you haven't read the POST in my signature, I'd highly recommend you do it. BTW, this isn't a "dumb comment", it is being said in an attempt to make you a better forum user—you may not like it, but the truth hurts sometimes. .

It would help if you described the sails a bit better, like how heavy the cloth used to make them was, whether they have hanks, slugs, or bolt ropes along the side and which side they're attached to, etc...

Hanks are small pieces of hardware that usually attach every couple of feet along a headsail's luff to attach it to the forestay. Slugs are also small pieces of hardware that attach a mainsail's luff to attach it to the mainsail track on the mast. Boltropes are ropes sewn along the edge of a sail and are run inside a track—usually the foot or luff of the mainsail.

The luff of a sail is its forward edge, the foot its bottom, and the leech is its aft edge.

If these terms are new to you... go out and get Dave Seidman's book, The Complete Sailor and read it. It will at least give you the basic vocabulary and terms to ask somewhat more informed questions and stop wasting bandwidth on this forum. If you don't know the basic language and terms of a craft, you're really too ignorant to be asking useful questions as a general rule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainDaniel

Warning: beginner question, no dumb comments needed.

I have 3 sails and am wondering what they are. They came with my boat which I found out is supposed to be Bermuda rigged.

48' by 48' by 24 Since this is the biggest, I assume it's the main sail.

Sounds more like a spinnaker than a mainsail. Mainsails are usually close to right triangles...this is an isosceles, and the only sails I've seen that are laterally symmetrical are full spinnakers.

Quote:

32' by 27' by 16' (corner of 16 and 32 is labeled "bottom foot")

27' is pretty small for a main sail luff, so I'd guess that this is a jib of some sort... 32' sounds about right for a jib on a boat that takes a 48' spinn.

Quote:

37' by 41' by 10.5'

The smaller sails are jibs? Why the different sizes?

Are the measurements right on this one... I ask because it has a very short foot... and if it is a jib, it's got some really weird proportions to it.

blt2ski · #4 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

The smaller sail actually sounds like a mainsail measurement. The main on my rig is 32.5' luff, and 10' foot. The middle could be a jib, especially if the rig is a fractional. Not sure about the big one, other than as others mention a spinaker/drifter/reacher or some other downwind/light air equal.

Some more info as mentioned, as to what the sails have on the edges would help as to a better answer. Also, what kind of boat is it?

marty

TheFrog · #5 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

Out of curiosity I followed the link to the OPs blog and found this description of his boat:

Quote:

Yes, I finally got a boat! I’ll update this info shortly.
52 foot sail boat
I have some sails (old), but no mast (yet)
ferro-cement hull

6 cyl Volvo Diesel 106 HP
radar, depth sounder, auto-pilot

Based on the 52' LOA I doubt that any of these sails are the main sail, they may be the kite and a jib but those seem like small sails for such a big boat.

Daniel, please post more pictures of your boat and any specifications you got on it. Did it originally have one or two masts. Pictures of the foredeck would be good to see, I suspect that it may have been cutter rigged and the smallest sail is for the inner forestay. Unless the mast was very short for a 52' boat you do not have a main sail. But, this is all pretty moot as you don't have a mast on the boat and your sails are going to need to match your mast.

I suggest that you go back to the person who gave you the hull and get as many pictures as possible of what the boat looked like with a mast. Perhaps they even have the original plans that the boat was made from???

Lostmt · #6 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

Maybe this will help you with the terms of different sail parts.

sailingdog · #7 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

From another thread, the poster said the boat was a one-off custom design.

CaptainDaniel · #8 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

Great info so far, although if I don't have a main sail, I will still need to get one. The boat was never rigged, but is supposed to have a Bermuda Rig with a 65ft mast.

sailingdog: I did read the post, but as a newbie, I am not sure what info is needed to give advise. I also simply don't have all the info needed, but have to start somewhere.

The sails are all the same material, all pretty much the same off-white color. Dacron? I don't know. I'll have to go somewhere and look at dacron to be sure, but it's the most common?

The big sail (48x48x24) has one of the 48' side lined with metal parts, to hook onto something? The bottom side has TACK written on it. That's the angle of the 48' with metal parts and the 24' side. I was really hoping for this to be the main sail.

The sail: 37' by 41' by 10.5' also has metal parts (hooks or grommets?) along the 41' side.

And they all have re-enforced holes on the corners.

Oh it's great to start a new hobby. So many questions!

TheFrog · #9 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainDaniel

The big sail (48x48x24) has one of the 48' side lined with metal parts, to hook onto something? The bottom side has TACK written on it. That's the angle of the 48' with metal parts and the 24' side. I was really hoping for this to be the main sail.

The sail: 37' by 41' by 10.5' also has metal parts (hooks or grommets?) along the 41' side.

Are the metal parts hooks like these hanks?

or are they sail slugs like this?

If they are the hanks you are looking at foresails (jib/genoa). If they are slugs you are looking at a main sail.

The other thing to check for on the sails is if there is a thick rope sewn into one or two edges of the sail. This would also indicate the main sail

The bolt rope as it is called fits in either the mast track or the boom track.

sailingdog · #10 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008

Capt Dan-

That's why I would recommend you get and read Dave Seidman's The Complete Sailor. It's a great book to get you up to speed on the parts of the boat, sails, and such, and give you some of the terms so you can communicate more effectively. It's a cheap book too, about $15 or so at most bookstore chains.