foresail roller reefing

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barrywade
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 7:55 am

foresail roller reefing

Post by barrywade »

After many years of hanked foresails I have decided to install roller reefing. "Rumpus" is number 20 in the production run, therefore she is a mark 1 with the shorter mast. I would like to know what are the ideal dimensions of sail that I should look for.
samphire2014
Posts: 65
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:47 pm

Re: foresail roller reefing

Post by samphire2014 »

If you are not too fussy, you can continue to use your existing sail. Once you know the track details on the roller reefer, you can buy suitable sail slides on line, cut off the old hank on clips and then stitch on the slides at predetermined intervals. I did this with a second hand, hank on sail I had acquired last season. Whilst you will probably not win any races and windward performance might be slightly compromised, it does work. Foresail dimensions are, I believe, in the technical manual.
Keith 66
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 7:36 pm

Re: foresail roller reefing

Post by Keith 66 »

You will need to measure your forestay, there is considerable variation between mast length on different boats.
There are 7 sabres at Benfleet yc & much variation, Meg Merrily is a Mk1 & has a 30ft mast. mine is also a mk 1 but her mast is a foot longer, later boats have masts up to 3ft longer than this. Height of furling drum over the deck, no two boats are the same.
ken endean
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed May 10, 2017 11:11 am

Re: foresail roller reefing

Post by ken endean »

When converting the headsail to roller reefing there are lots of possible complications. First, the chosen roller gear will restrict the length of the jib luff (at both tack and head). Then the shape of the sail needs to be such that the fairlead position will be near to the aft end of the fairlead slide when the sail is fully unfurled. To get these items right it is sensible to measure everything (mast height, mast to tack horizontal dimension and also the vertical height of the tack above the fairlead slide) then draw out the fore-triangle shape and mark the parts of the luff that will be obstructed by the roller and the top swivel etc. (Note that different manufacturers use different arrangements for persuading the halliard not to wrap up when the foil is rotated). At that stage, you can draw on the sail. If you are cutting down an old genoa, it may be possible to get the right shape by simply taking a tapering slice off the luff. In the final shape, the line of the sheet lead from the fairlead ,through the clew, should extend to meet the luff at its mid point. That is a good first approximation but your sailmaker may also have an opinion.

When it comes to forming a new luff, it is definitely helpful to include a tapering filler to reduce the 'bagging' effect when the sail is rolled. Most sailmakers use foam but my own sail (by Crusader Sails) has a thinner, harder filler made by tapering a length of double polythene tube. It has been highly satisfactory and functions well in strong winds. One problem with cutting down an existing genoa is that the cloth may be rather too thin for strong winds, so you may well decide to treat the boat with a pupose-made sail once you are accustomed to using the roller gear.

One advantage of a roller headsail is that rather than changing down early when there is a threat of strong wind, it allow the crew to hang on to a large-ish jib, safe in the knowledge that they can roll it quickly if required. On the Sabre, that is helpful because she will go well with a reefed main and relatively large jib, particularly in conditions that could otherwise cause heavy weather helm.
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