Sheet attachment to A-spinnakers

lancelot9898 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-24-2010

My A spinnaker has a small line running from the tack to the clew which I've always wondered what the purpose since my sheets are attached directly to the clew. However looking at one of Gui's instructional videos(A spinnaker videos) it appears that he is attaching the sheets to this line and letting the sheets slide along this line rather than attaching them directly to the clew.

So my question is what is that line running from tack to clew used for and what length should it be? My thought is that it was mainly to add strength to the foot of that sail.

jackdale · #2 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

I noticed that this posting was unanswered.

Is the line inside a sleeve on the the sail or loose?

A photo might help.

lancelot9898 · #3 (**permalink**) 11-09-2010

Actually Alex over on another site answered my question and suggested getting rid of the line since it serves no purpose and could be troublesome in trying to dump the sail in certain conditions. The line does not go up the sleeve of the sock and is just a line running directly from the tack to the clew. Alex has some pictures of his A spin and I thought I saw that line in one of his pictures thinking that he somehow attached the sheet to it rather than directly to the clew but I was mistaken. Thanks

puddinlegs · #4 (**permalink**) 11-09-2010

Is it a foot line? Most spins these days have foot and leach lines. Generally they don't get much use when the sail is new, but as things stretch over time, they're the only way to get rid of flutter.

jackdale · #5 (**permalink**) 11-09-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by puddinlegs

Is it a foot line? Most spins these days have foot and leach lines. Generally they don't get much use when the sail is new, but as things stretch over time, they're the only way to get rid of flutter.

That was what I thought, but my question was poorly worded. A foot line would be in a sleeve along the foot of the sail.

lancelot9898 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-10-2010

No the line is not contained within the sleeve of the foot and is just a line running directly from the tack to the clew. This is how the sail was set up when I received it from day 1 after having it made in Hong Kong decades ago. I never did remove it and always kept it attached but I never did know its function if any.