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Jib sail hieght

Bobg

Member I
When I got my E-29 I noticed when raising the jib, the bottom would be so low it would set against the railing, I noticed a few pictures of other boats the same way, I installed a 12" line and raised it up some, I now can see under it, but I allways wonder if I ruined the performance. I am fairly new to sailing and don't have all the terminoligy, hope you understand what I am talking about. Anyone else do this? Thanks Bobg
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
You will lose a few nano-knots going to weather without "sealing" the foot of the headsail to the deck. This is the "end plate" effect you may have read about.
Ballanced against that last little bit of efficiency is having a much better view ahead under the foot of the headsail and reducing the chafe of the sail against the pulpit.
This "end plate" stuff is probably most pronounced with a 140% or larger genny, in light to medium air, IMHO.

I prefer a foot high enough to let me see what's about to run into me...
:)

"Everything's a compromise" as someone once said....

Best,
Loren in PDX
 

Bob in Va

Member III
Trade-off?

Because the wind at masthead height is invariably a little stronger than that at deck level, I wonder if the "end plate" losses from raising the sail are offset by whatever is gained in raising it. Old saying: "One more foot of mast yields ten more feet of wind."
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Jib height

What you are seeing are variations in sail dimensions between boats. Ideally, a properly built sail will have a luff length of about 6-8" less than your headstay length, and a clew height of 8-30" above the deck-depending on the size and type of sail. More typically for cruising sails it will be 12-20" above deck. When you see sails that are very low, very high, or very short on the luff (with a pennant as you saw), they are often sails that were made for a different boat and "made to fit" the boat you see them on, or sometimes they are just poorly designed sails.
If you would like to learn more about sail specifics, please contact me directly, and happy new year!
 

Bill Sanborn

Member III
On my E29 I lowered the lifeline at the bow. I installed a "c" shaped device on the pulpit just above the deck so the top lifeline goes from the foward stanchion down toward the bow.
This lets me use a shorter pendant and lowers the center of effort of whatever headsail I am using. This reduces the amount of heel.

These gadgets are mfg by Johnson and are also used to add lower liflines when the stanchions are not drilled for them. On my boat I didn't need to change the length of the lifilines to make the change.
 
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