Mainsail luff: Track vs sleeve vs lacing?

[Aphers]

Over the couple of years I've had my Spindrift, I've managed to collect a whole assortment of different sails and spars, which have been effective in varying degrees.

Current rig of choice is from a windsurf, with a wishbone boom. Perfectly happy with its performance, and the four piece mast stows away to nothing. But the wishbone is not the easiest thing to set up if you're already out at sea. The sail is also getting very tired- it's had an awful lot of use, almost daily for the past year or so.

 

What I'd really like to do is switch to a more conventional rig. I've got a great sail from an OK class dinghy, which has a bolt rope. The mast I have for it is very heavy aluminium tube with a track. I want to use a windsurf mast instead, bit of course that has no track. I think my options are:

- rivet and/or epoxy the track on to the grp mast (not sure this is structurally a great plan)

- get a sailmaker to sew on a luff sleeve (I'm guessing this is the best, but costliest, option)

- install eyelets along the luff, and lace the sail to the mast (very DIY friendly, low cost)

 

I'll need to figure out how to make a gooseneck but maybe a simple plastic claw (rowlock?) would work.

 

I'm hoping to avoid a trip to the sailmaker partly for cost and partly because, as a full time cruiser, I don't like having to be tied to being in a certain place for any length of time.

[Captain Tim]

I had planned to use a Laser Radial rig but the boom is very low so I went with the mast and sail designed for the Spindrift 11.

The mast was easy to make after buying the tubes from B & B. The sail got delivered shortly after ordering it. 

I would check with your follow cruisers to see if one of them has a sewing machine. You could get the cloth and two sided tape to make the sleeve 

and then the sewing part would be quick.

With a sleeved sail and no zipper you have to put the mast and sail up together. I figured that could be a little tricky out on the anchor.

Could you put sail track on the mast that takes slides like the track B & B sell? Then you could easily sew slides onto the sail.

[Hirilonde]

I went with the luff sleeve on my 9N which was a tender.  It could be a little amusing raising the mast on a windy day at anchor. The sail shape is fantastic.  For absolute convenience, I think slides and track are the way to go.  Being able to lower the sail and leave the mast up when staying some where for a couple days would have been nice, or when beaching.

[Aphers]

One of my rigs has a track and a halyard (btw I'm not sure I see any benefit to slugs over just using the bolt rope?). The other is sleeved.

 

Both work pretty well. A lighter version of the tracked rig would be great. But the sleeved one is fine. Only once have I found myself unable to 'plant the flag' when I was trying to rig in a stiff breeze. With that rig, I often just roll up the sail loosely and tie it to the mast. It has a full length top batten so it does still have a bit of windage, but it works very well if I'm just making a quick stop to pick up laundry etc. I generally put the sail tie on a slip knot so setting off is a case of jumping aboard and pulling the tie; one pull on the sheet and the sail unfurls and we're away. If I'm being pinned on to the dock by the breeze I can usually give a hefty enough push at I get aboard to get clear and start sailing. It's all very drama free.

 

If I convert my tracked sail to laced or sleeved, is there anything preventing me from having it open at the top, and using a halyard?

[Captain Tim]

The open top on my sleeved sail works fine. It does have a zipper in the sleeve.  It might be hard to bunch up the sail down at the boom with no zipper.

I think a bolt rope over slides. If you go with track I think slide track like B & B makes would be easier to install.

[Aphers]

12 hours ago, Captain Tim said:

The open top on my sleeved sail works fine. It does have a zipper in the sleeve.  It might be hard to bunch up the sail down at the boom with no zipper.

I think a bolt rope over slides. If you go with track I think slide track like B & B makes would be easier to install.

What's the advantage of slides over a bolt rope?

[Captain Tim]

With slides the sail will be able to flake more easily on to the boom if you are dropping it to go to the beach. You would need a stop at the bottom of the track so the slides stay on the track when sail comes down.

[Captain Tim]

With slides you would be able to set up a reefing system more easily

[Aphers]

If I add eyes to the luff, whether for sliders or lacing, what spacing would be suitable?

Using just bits and bobs I already have in stock, I'd be looking at 49cm between eyes. Is that a bit too far apart?

[Captain Tim]

This may help. Tips for Spacing Slugs & Choosing Shackles for Your Mainsail (sailrite.com)

[Don Silsbe]

@Aphers— A sail with a bolt rope must be either up or down.  You can’t stack it on the boom, like you’d do when (whilst) reefing or flaking it on the boom.

[Aphers]

So today I tried out the new rig. Windsurf mast with dinghy sail. Long story short, it's not going to work out. The mast just isn't stiff enough. As soon as you put any halyard tension on, the mast bends like an over ripe banana.

It's a shame, because I'd put a bit of work in to this setup, and I was hoping for some good performance with a light enough mast that it would be stable enough to be left afloat rigged.

But I guess I'll just stick with my trusty windsurf rig...

[Don Silsbe]

You made the right decision.  Graham told me a story a year or so ago.  It was about the winning record of the Spindrift in local races.  He said that one sailor came along with a stiffer mast, and started winning the races.  Graham investigated, and discovered that the sail shape was better with this stiffer mast.  He had sized the mast sections purely on ultimate strength, rather than sail shape.  Once they upped the stiffness of the mast sections, that sailor’s advantage disappeared.  So you are doing the right thing by going away from that flexible mast.

[Aphers]

On 3/9/2024 at 8:56 AM, Don Silsbe said:

@Aphers— A sail with a bolt rope must be either up or down.  You can’t stack it on the boom, like you’d do when (whilst) reefing or flaking it on the boom.

I've never had a problem with it tbh. My first boat was a Wayfarer (16ft dinghy) and it used a bolt rope. It was pretty easy to put a reef in. I suppose sliders would have kept the bunt of the sail a bit neater but I had eyelets with lashings for that.

I'm sure that on larger boats it would be beneficial to use sliders.