Sliding Genoa/Jib track block

[ste27]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

Thanks for the little lecture.

So how about a survey..how many Sailneters cruising-about adjust their jibsheet leads forward and out to the rail when they are jib reaching...? Do you keep a short sheet and spare blocks readily at hand? Do you know what a short sheet is...?

I'd bet not many...while such adjustment is proper sail trim, it is too inconvenient for cruisers, leaving it to be in fact a racing "thing".

You can cheat that sort of thing pretty well if you have a purchase system (like a rope vang) with a shackle on both ends or shackle on one end and snatch block on the other. Clip onto the toe rail, clip onto the jib sheet and tension... badda bing badda boom

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by christyleigh

Egads..... another Nauticater. Hi Jack I'm no racer but I did have line adjustable cars on my previous Catalina 320. I'm racer term illiterate so I didn't know what a "short sheet" was but your picture is similar to what I do for down wind work only I bring it a couple feet back and up to the pilothouse deck level to really fill the genoa. Wish I had your toe rails for connecting anything anywhere
As for car adjustment and general sail trim when day sailing around the bay a nice 10 mile reach, run, whatever.... means 20 wind shifts because of the islands, the daily afternoon Swesterly, etc.... so some of us "cruisers" DO adjust our sails constantly. Learn to sail on Narragansett Bay and you'll learn to trim like a racer or just sit there....

I cannot claim ownership of the Nauticat; a 37. It is a charter boat that is used in the Yachtmaster Offshore courses that I teach. I took the picture to show the owner how we were rigging to avoid wear on the sheet and the rail.

The Gulf Islands of BC a known for light air, mostly onshore breezes. Without sail trim we also would be standing still.

We do get more sustained winds on the west coast of Vancouver Island. With long tacks, it is essential that we rig to avoid wear.

Jack