To new mains'l owners:
Did your sailmaker tune your standing rigging before measuring for a new mainsail?


I have read that sailmakers prefer to cut a new sail for zero mast rake, unless perhaps your demand more accuracy.
Is this correct or not as important as I think when my imagination wanders?
-CH

The sailmaker should measure the boat and it would be helpful if he knows if the boat has been sailing balanced at the helm. the difference of 0 rake and the proper amount of rake to balance the helm is small on most boats and should not effect the sail cut, there are the exceptions. a good sailmaker will spend time looking at the boat under sail to determine the best cut for the boat under the conditions that the sail is made to sail in. mast rake will change depending on the mainsail and the jib combination in any given set of wind conditions.

No. I've never heard of a sailmaker tuning a customer's rig.

Raking a mast doesn't affect the shape of the mainsail. It changes the balance of the sailplan in relation to the keel's center of lateral resistance (CLR). The amount of rake increases or decreases the amount of weather helm. The whole rig tilts back very slightly. That doesn't change the angle of the boom in relation to the mast. I suspect you might be confusing mast rake with prebend. Prebend affects the shape of the sail. Looking at the C&C 24 rig, it doesn't look like it can be set up with a prebend.

Would a rig require a baby stay to allow for mast pre-bend?

That's one way you could do it, but a masthead-rigged boat is not an ideal candidate for mast bending, the benefits are small and the drawbacks to a baby stay are considerable. A baby stay stands in the way of an overlapping jib and will greatly complicate tacking the boat. If you're racing a one design fractional rig boat, you have to learn about prebend because it's inherent to a fractional rig, and everyone will be doing it. With a masthead rig, almost nobody will be doing it because it's less beneficial and generally not worth the hassle.

If your goal is to point higher and sail faster, your better choice is to be more meticulous in prepping your boat (bottom prep, rig tuning) and especially in sail selection, sail handling and sail trim, and in helmsmanship. A high degree of skill in those functions will put you among the leaders of most masthead fleets.