Loose Footed Main

The current rage here in the Chesapeake is going for a loose footed main when buying new sails.

I was wondering if by simply taking the sail slides out of the boom along the foot would accomplish most of what is gained in a loose footed main. I realize the sail is cut somewhat different, "fuller", along the foot, but other then that, whats stopping me from just taking the slides on the foot out of the track and giving it a shot?

Anyone tried this?

Only fear itself is holding you back. I did this for two years on my E29T before buying a loose footed new sail from FX sails.
The sail preformed much better with the loose foot. My sail was over 25 years old and the bolt rope in the foot had shrunk, I didn’t know that until I measured sail to order the new ones. I cut the stitching in the bolt rope at the clue and milked the sail down and gained the 4 inches, I also did this on the luft and gained the 6 inches that were lost there, and this took the belly of the sail and made it have a much better shape.

I don’t think cutting the stitching is a problem as the newer sail don’t have the boltrope stitched at the clue so it can slide as the rope shrinks.

Someone shoot me down but I would not want to go to anything other than loose footed.
Disadvantage you can lay in the foot of the sail above the boom on loose footed.

You can always go back on this one.

Our "new this year" Quantum mainsail is loose footed and I can't believe the difference. It seems to be much more sensitive to changes in trim than the old "bolt rope in the foot" sail. I also like that when I put in a reef, I can tie lines through the cringles and around the foot of the sail without having to tie around the boom as well. I believe that this puts much less stress on those cringles while keeping the sail orderly.

I also removed the slides from the foot of the mainsail on my previous boat. The sail was stretched a bit and had too much draft. After I made it loose-footed, I saw a dramatic improvement in shape and performance. No recutting was necessary, but I did beef up the slide closest to the clew.

Vince Benn
Wild Blue
Ericson E380, #22

Sounds good. I think I'll give it a try.

Thanks to all

Has anyone given thought to the different loading on the boom when the main is only attached at the luff and clew. If the boom was not origionally designed for this setup, what's the chance of it buckling in a big blow. It seems to me that the boom should be more robust for a loose footed main. Thoughts?
Bob Cole
E-34

As pointed out in an older thread here, The load is already on the clew. When you order a typical main with a "foot," the boom does not provide real additional support and never did.
Sidebar: remembering the dawn of the loose-footed main sail for everyday sailors -- when I quizzed my sail maker about this same question, over 20 years ago, he responded by asking where all the clew stress was in heavy air when I would pull in a reef. I said that the clew is pulled tight and then the reef points are tied in only to tidy up the mid section and keep the surplus sail from flapping around. He looked at me and said nothing for a minute.... and I said something like "Ah So!"
(About as close to a zen moment as I usually get...)

Back in the age of cotton sails, every part of the support of the sail edge was probably needed for due to the stretchiness of the material. With dacron and beyond, nope.

Also, see answer #9 in this thread: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3239&referrerid=28

My .02 worth,
Loren