New Sails for Thelonious (15-minute video)

[Christian Williams]

You might notice the padded genoa luff. Yes, it's still called a "foam luff." But unlike previous designs, UK now runs rope-like lines of foam down the padding area. Apparently that doesn't compact, as the previous layered foam did over time. Oliver says use of actual rope in luffs has been pretty much abandoned. I wonder if North Sails agrees.

UK Sailmakers invoice 2022, for the record:

 

[appick]

All in all not a terrible price for a new set of wings!

If you're looking to sell off any of your old sails I'm in the market for something better than my seriously degraded main and Genoa.

 

[Mr. Scarlett]

Love the sound of the new main as it's going on the boom.

Looking forward to hearing some opinions on the lower clew on the genoa.

 

[light24bulbs]

Great video, watched it on release.

Has anyone had okay results going with a cheap overseas sail maker? Namely Rolly Tasker.

I know it won't be as good but.. My needs are pretty basic. Also my wallet. I was wondering how much I could save.

 

[Christian Williams]

Cheap works and anything is better than blown-out sails. Just be sure of the measurements, since error not returnable.

Most sails are constructed overseas anyhow, the selected design is a computer program. Value of local is advice, repair, reputation and attention to detail. Many sails arrive incorrectly made, and a sailmaker rep makes it right without charge.

 

[Shawn Rodel]

Hello, yes I just received a quote from National Sails and they are using Rolly Tasker.
120% Genoa 8.1 oz Pro Radial Dacron #6 luff tape, no Sun cover.
We will be using for club racing on our 1988 38-200 $2,184.00....Shawn

 

[Pete the Cat]

Love the sound of the new main as it's going on the boom.

Looking forward to hearing some opinions on the lower clew on the genoa.

As a cruiser, I do not like low clews. I generally ask to have the clew set a bit higher on the sails I order for safety (I sail in congested areas alot, alone and need to often monitor crossing traffic. It is also, I think, dangerous in open water to rely on regularly going to the low side to scan--and I have already posted my concerns about relying on AIS for collision avoidance. I confess I have had near misses that sobered me--one of them was 60 miles offshore and in the middle of a very nice day--neither one of us was keeping an adequate lookout under our sails. I also have never really noticed a lot of speed differential between a deck sweeper genoa with previous boats I owned and raced. I am not a physics expert, but I know from my training as a pilot that most of the lift in a sail is in the first third of the chord--so that added cloth in the foot seems of limited value--it's turbulent down there----I just have not been able to note that floating another foot or two of leach is going to add significanlly to speed. I will put up an asymmetric or a chute if the situation warrants it--and those work better when they are eased away from the boat structures. I also do not like the performance of any reefed sail-- so after 40 years of racing and cruising I generally prefer having a head sail that might be occasionally underpowered to one that requires occasional reefing--a personal preference. Christian sails in Southern Cailfiornia where winds are generally lighter than SF Bay area where I sail part of the year. And his winds might be a bit more predictable than the variable winds I deal with in Maine and the Bay of Fundy at my summer residence. So some of this is about where you live and what kind of sailing you do. My sailmaker friends have talked about the issue of talking folks out of the "more sail area is better" problem in their business--but that may be a special problem in the SF Bay area where it regularly blows 25Kts plus in parts of the Bay. Just an opinion and the rationale.

 

[Christian Williams]

I agree about visibility. A pennant to raise the foot just above the pulpit greatly improves things.

...

But nothing opens things up like a high clew.

 

[N.A.]

FWIW, I recently ordered a new genoa. In talking with the sailmaker about clew height -- I was interested in a higher clew, for exactly the reasons people suggest here; thanks again for all the advice on this board -- I commented that I was happy to trade off sail area for visibility and less possible issue in any seas. His response was that sail area actually increases as you raise the clew, due to the geometry of the triangle.

Since I wanted the high clew regardless, I will admit to not having bothered to work the trigonometry myself and just depending on his (well established) reputation for knowing his business, but I pass the comment on here. It seems that maybe the issue with a low clew has more to do with where the sail area is, and putting it down by the foot of the genoa, than actually increasing total sail area.

I know racers like low clews, so there must be some performance benefit to having them, but whatever it is may not actually be more total sail area.

 

[Loren Beach]

I know racers like low clews, so there must be some performance benefit to having them, but whatever it is may not actually be more total sail area.

I have always understood, rightly or wrongly, that a "deck sweeper" headsail creates an End Plate effect on the deck. (Kind of similar to having a shelf foot on a main.
Of course, first I would have to be going in the right direction most the time around the race course before these "nano knots" might be important to me!