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Author Topic:   Jib luff tension
dgtaylor
JuniorMember 		posted August 30, 2003 10:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dgtaylor     
I'm starting to take interest in sailing and last week got to spend some time with the Echo that my Dad and Uncle bought in Connecticut in the mid 80's (I have a vague memory of the event). I haven't had any formal training in sailing, so please forgive any misapplication of terms.

As I recall, the reason my family purchased an Echo is because they wanted a small sailboat with a jib. However, lacking any experience with rigging a jib, and finding the Echo to be a bit more of a handful than their aging Sunflower, the Echo has fallen into disuse. I intend to amend that.

Anyhow, I've been messing around with trying to figure out how to set the jib. It seems that when sailing close to the wind, the luff of the jib tends to begin luffing long before the mainsail does. I get the impression that I'm not able to sail as close to the wind as the boat is capable.

I suspect the problem lies in the amount of tension that is applied to the luff of the jib (not much). When applying tension to the jib through the halyard, most of the force is transferred to the body of the sail via a set of cords threaded through the eyelet at the top of the jib and sewn into the body of the sail. The cable in the seam of the luff takes no tension whatsoever. There is a gap of at least 6 inches between the luff of the jib and the forestay.

I tend to think that I could sail closer to the wind if I could apply more tension to the luff of the jib, but I'm not sure how to accomplish this without altering the sail itself. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave


Tom D CL16
Member 		posted September 06, 2003 09:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tom D CL16   Click Here to Email Tom D CL16     
I am not familiar with your boat, however with most sailing dinghysthe jib should be as tight as possible. With a cable in the luff it probably was designed for roller furling. To draw the jib tighter many sailors install a magic box on the mast. This is an enclosed set of blocks to make the tensioning of the jib halyard easier to set. If not pull the halyard as tight as possible. With my CL16 I set the jib first with no luff. I have telltails on the leach and approx 1/4 in from the luff. I then set the main by letting it luff and sheeting in just enough to stop the luffing.
Hope this helps. I just had a great week sailing a short story will come soon.
Good sailing tom d

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