Newbie Needs Jib Basics~!

ok, there are 'no stupid questions', right?? good... now that we have that cleared away...

i'm teaching myself to sail this lovely '78 E25.. have been out a couple of times with just main sail, 8 - 10 knot winds- that's working great! (tho would work even better if i had a main halyard winch anywhere near the mast!) so i run up the working jib over the weekend... and realize that i haven't the slightest clue as to where to run the sheets to, starboard or port! and, in fact, there are no sheets in the bag! quickly 'bagged' the attempt and decided to await further info~

sooo, the question is, other E25 owners (et al): what is a standard arrangement, tackle-wise, for where to optimally run jib sheets? do people
run these lines back to the cockpit winches? or just tie off somewhere amidships?? or...???

thnx all-

brian smith
homer, alaska

Brian,
Everyone starts somewhere. We have all been where you are now, and I admire your courage in "fessing up" to what you do NOT know.
May I suggest you get yourself a beginner's book on sailing. It will take care of most of the answers you need and do it in one place, wherein you can get what you want when you want it. Studying before you go is a very good way to keep from getting hurt. In addition, you seem to be sailing alone, so there are some safety considerations that you need to know about and need to dial in. I doubt that the waters off Homer are very forgiving, should one take a plunge that was unexpected.
That said, one normally ties the jibsheets to the clew of the jib with bowlines. You need to know how to tie that knot. It is basic to sailing. One sheet to a side. The sheets are then led through a a block to the cockpit winches. You need to know about where and why the blocks are put where they are and how you can adjust the headsail by changing the jib lead.
Once the lines are in the cockpit they are normally put (clockwise) around a winch. The more wraps on the winch the more friction you'll have. Start with two and add more later as you need more friction.
There is no way a bunch of us people who don't know your boat or your capabilities can offer you much good advice from various points of the compass.
Most of all, be careful. If you can get a local sailor to help you, fine, but reading how to do it will make the actual doing of it simpler, more fun and safer.
Morgan Stinemetz

As usual...

Morgan is right on the money. You might have fairlead bullseyes located on the deck beside the cabin, or you might have several feet of track like the boat in this picture, with a sliding car that carries a block, riding on that track (darker colored strip on the rail outside the cockpit). Make sure that when you run the sheet through the fairlead or the block, that it does not run foul of the lifeline - there is a lot of tension on it when the sail is full. If you like the way the boat sails under main alone, you will love it with a foresail - it will be faster, balance better, and point higher. The 25 is a real good boat - I used to sail one belonging to a buddy, and almost bought it several years ago. Wish I'd had this forum back then - these guys will save you lots of time not having to learn things the hard way.

thanks bob, morgan- bob, you answered my question.

morgan, i appreciate your concern for my safety (!)-
know that i have read roughly 100 books this past year on
sailing- and am constantly referring to 3 or 4 'how to' sailing
texts- this one question re. running rigging and tackle from the
jib simply not addressed either in text or in pics in any of my
resource books~ (i'm being very, VERY careful out there-
harness, pfd, handheld and submersible vhf- etc- err, and i've
known how to tie a bowline since boy scouts 30+ years ago)

thanks again guys- and i'll certainly keep posting those pesky
little 'how to' questions~ i find this forum to be invaluable.

bgs

Jib basics

All of those are great comments. To help you with the concept of where the jib sheets should be led, I am attaching this bit of writing I had submitted to the Ericson 23 group on the same question:

3).Let me explain the sheet/clew bisecting thing better for your crew:

When we design a genoa, we obviously need to know where the track is so we can determine exactly where the optimum sheet position needs to be (we use the designer's sailplan, or "make one", using a series of boat measurements). This optimum spot is where all the telltales will break at the same time (top to bottom) as you head up from upwind sailing-meaning the entire luff is presented to the wind at the same angle of attack].[/SIZE] If the lead is aft of this spot, the top of the sail will have a smaller angle (meaning it is more head to wind and closer to luffing), and the top will twist off, and vice versa. How do we (sailmakers) determine this spot? Take a point 55% up the luff (starting at the tack), and draw a line from that spot down through the clew, and down to the deck. Boat owners will locate this spot by eyeballing what is described above, then simply move the lead forward and back until the telltales break evenly top to bottom-WHEN SAILING CLOSE HAULED/JIB TRIMMED IN! This is the max power location, where the sail is fully powered up. Move the lead aft for less power and more twist, forward for straight leech and more "round" in the sail-for the bottom end of the range for that sail-but don't go too far, or you will close out the leech and prevent air from leaving the sail.

There may be a confusion here in that we determine the size of the genoa in % of the J dimension by doing exactly what he says: bisect the clew with a tape measure, and hold it at the luff of the sail exactly where it hits the luff at a 90 degree angle (perpendicular). This dimension (from the clew to the luff) is called the LP (luff perpendicular), and if it is exactly equal to your J, it is considered a 100% headsail. If your J is 10' and the LP dimension is 15', then the sail is a 150% genoa-get it? This is a common area of confusion, and not indicative of any ignorance. But bisecting the clew and extending the line so that it is perp. to the luff will NOT get you the proper lead position-only by extending the line up to the 55% point.

All of this should demonstrate that the optimum location for the genoa leads is different for different sized sails-the 100% jib will lead way forward, and the 150% will lead way aft...

Also, you can have, say, a 120% (or any size) genoa with a "deck sweeper" (very low to the deck) clew, and a 120% genoa with a higher clew. They are both the same size, but the lead locations will be very different. If you use any of the techniques above, you will see that the even break on the low clewed sail is forward of the point where the even break occurs on the higher clewed sail.

I hope this helps, please get back with any questions this posting may create for you!
You are doing great-keep it up!

Cheers,
S

Brian,

If you haven't read it you may find Richard Hendersen's book "Hand, Reef, and Steer" very helpful in answering specific yet fundamental rigging questions like the one you raise here about jib sheets. It is written in a very straight-forward practical manner at what I found to be just the right level of detail. I think the book's out of print but Amazon can get you used copies I'm sure. Good luck.

Gary
S/V Imi Loa
1983 E28+

thanks gary, seth- once again, this forum is a tremendous
resource!

bgs