paxfish

Scotti - I am using 3mm Dyneema. It has chafed a bit after 2 seasons, but no failures yet.

They have to take a huge load in caternary. And proper building experience is hard to come by. The average canvas maker has no idea. My forward tramps are holding up fine. They get less traffic and less stressful traffic. The areas near my halyards, and near my motor box get hammered. I am doubling up the number of attachment points to further distribute the load. I pulled them off yesterday and added three rows of PTFE stitching all around. And ordered up 100 Feet of new cordage. The biggest hassle is the 30 bolts along one side of each tramp that must be removed every time

'nuf said....

Yeah - I've been running them for 1.5 seasons without issue. I made them out of 3mm and there is no wear that I can see. Short vid of the jib in action:

I had a chance to fly it last night, on a hot and humid evening. The air was very light, but I'm seeing good things. Hopefully we get a bit of wind this coming weekend! https://youtu.be/jFMvtRrN41Q

Nice crispy UK carbon very similar to the main....

...but up here, this is big wind. I had never raced in these conditions, and thankfully we were on a well-found F28R. Two big reefs in the main, and the jib was reefed also. Despite this postage-stamp of a rig, we were out of control at the leeward mark rounding (0 to 30 seconds....) We started to come around, and the leeward ama went down. I chickened out and bore off downwind. We had to drop the jib to get on the wind and then raise it. Once up we pointed nicely. We were racing around the cans with about 15 big monos up to 45 feet. We started last and took line honor

Very nice shot!

This shows our typical summer conditions on the Chesapeake. It is nice having some extra sail area around here. The next day we had 15 gusting to 20, which was pretty sweet also. I have a new UK jib on order, BTW. https://youtu.be/2AbEymqpDRM

So, we've had maybe 10 daysails thus far with the new main. I continue to fiddle with the sail controls, but overall am pleased. This sail was built incorrectly for a highly modified F-31 and I lucked out that the dimensions are very close to what I needed. The sail is built by UK using their Carbon Xdrive process and is their titantium package (which contains no real titanium!) I continue to have weather helm issues, though they are much reduced by the slightly smaller, higher aspect sail. And also mitigated by flattening the sail as much as possible with the sail controls.

Greg - I bought one of these a couple of months ago, but have yet to use it on my boat. Hoeever, I did try out an identical unit on my buddy's F28R code zero and it was smooth as silk. it is a big upgrade from his Harken unit.

Thanks Scotti. I think I'm good for Cunningham on full sail now. Reefed is another matter! But I'll get a couple of beers and drink about it for awhile. Though perhaps that is part of the issue.....nah! I have noticed that with the boom on the crossbean that the mast tends not to rotate as much as it used to - especially when the outhaul is cranked. That might be a good thing. Easing the outhaul should help the mast rotate more, which is desirable I think.

Thanks again for your help guys. I've been sailing for a long time, but always with sail controls that someone else designed! This new sail is very promising but has some unique challenges... Here's where I am so far. https://youtu.be/737kAYYHUTQ I have a reasonable Cunning ham rigged up using the 1st reef cringle and turned down to a block up to the tack. . Gonna have to figure out how to actually reef though Any tricks for tightening the battens? I do not have adjustable batten cars and the aft end uses velcro pockets. The sail has a little wrinkles right up by the ba

GREAT IDEAS there, Guys! I'm gonna try them all. As interest, this boat was designed for a big roach main (massive roach). The new sail has less roach as in the pic/overlay below. http://i.imgur.com/Atw2LhI.jpg Ed: I added another slug down low - might add yet another. I also re-positioned the top slug which should get me four more inches of hoist. I have new halyard lines to fit - replacing sta-set (4%) with Sta-set-X (1.5 % stretch) Halyard is 2:1 Halyard Ties off to a cleat - will consider a clutch. I have no winch on the mast BTW. The whole thing is predicated on ge

Howdy Gentlemen. Spring is slowly breaking out here in Maryland, and in between gale force winds, I managed to find a couple of hours of 8 to 10 knot winds over the weekend. So I raised the new main and started working out sail controls. I still need to rig a proper Cunningham, and with very little room for a 4:1 purchase, your creative solutions are solicited as always. Here's a short video: https://youtu.be/HiM7VGZqfiQ I was encouraged by the shape in the upper 2/3rds. Upwind seemed much more powerful and generally the shape was decent. The simple pultruded battens lo

Here in the US, I have to have both Standard and Metric tools handy. Our domestic vehicles often contain a mix of fasteners. All things household are Standard. Knowing the audience on this forum, I shift gears into metric mode. It is helpful that we share "knots." Fortunately with this crowd, we have plenty of them!

Hi Gang - I was reviewing this thread as a new headsail gets closer to the ordering stage. My new furler just arrived - should have it shortly. Got a killer deal on this Facnor 1500X + : http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/gennaker__code_0_furlers/continuous_line/fichiers/fiche_fx_carb_u.pdf I have a quote on a sail for it that uses parallel luff ropes to drive the furling. I also have the option of getting anti-torque rope sewn in. The sail is pretty much a code zero, and after re-reading your comments, I'm once again leaning toward something a bit more gennaker-ish. Toug

Thanks Clipper, you bet. I just did some careful measurements and sent them in to the rating committee. Looks like I'm only about 4 square feet smaller. Aspect ratio is much higher though as you can see in the overlay below. One of my goals was to move my CE forward to better balance the boat. How do I calculate the new location of my CE for the main?

I used the West System pumps for a couple of years, and endured the burped resin on my chest that entire time. Plus, the pumps sometimes come apart if you really crank on them. Then I switched to US composites and found their pumps do not have that problem. You may have an alternate supplier in your area for the pumps shown on this page. They all have 38mm threads: http://uscomposites.com/epoxy.html These pumps neither burp nor leak....

Gentlemen - I sincerely appreciate your comments. I've incorporated most of them in my decision making, and your experience has been invaluable out here in multihull hinterland. In between gales this morning, I was able to raise the new (used once) main, and am generally delighted with the fit. The luff is too long. Based on what I am seeing, I think I will lengthen the boom and lower the gooseneck to the main crossbeam, rather than install a new tack and recut the foot. You guys don't seem to have an issue with the reduced visibility or crew movement, so I should not either. Thi

Thanks for you comments guys - I really do appreciate it. My intention is to generally raise it at the beginning of the day and leave it up unless racing. I may use a bit of shockcord or a polyurethane washer or something as a keeper. My friend who built the sprit fittings hasn't had a problem with it unhooking, though it is a bigger cruising cat (St. Francis 44), and he does not race it. This morning I just measured the Luff at 38'9" ( 11.8 meters) - That sail is gonna be a whopper!

Here's the latest, Gents! As always, I solicit your comments with respect. As interest, the stopper knot is a stevedore as recommended for SK-75 by Colligo. The tail will be trimmed a bit, and the outer surface will be covered by a decal. Line diameter is 6mm. The bushing is machined out of G-10 and offers about 8 square inches of adhesion/bearing surface in the stem.

Very cool. Looks well conceived and fast. Give us some detail?

Wow! - Who drives a boat UNDER a heeling cat?

Someone mentioned headboard - here is what the design looks like: