new sails

Submitted by frank barbehenn on Wed, 08/22/2007 - 19:38
I am just learning my way and now sails are a new area to get a feel for. Specifically, I purchased new Schurr Sails and, while not having yet sailed with them, I did raise the new main in calm air while in dry storage to get a look at the main and put on a new cascade vang system. At any rate, the Schurr sail, when raised to the top of the mast, still had about an extra inch of luff bolt rope at the bottom and the foot of the sail struck us as very "baggy"--both aspects being compared to my very old sail of a couple decades which was tighter in the bolt rope when raised--no slack in the bolt rope--and much less baggy at the foot. Does anyone have any feedback that might help assess this situation? Of course, I have emailed Schurr sails and FLying Scot for advice.
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Comments

Frank, Seems odd.

Submitted by sawyerspadre on Wed, 08/22/2007 - 20:44.
Frank, Seems odd. I think Greg Morrison has new Schurrs that came with his boat. Maybe you can compare. Bolt ropes tend to shrink with drying and redrying, especially if it was really old. With the tack pin in the grommet, were you able to raise the sail to the point where the horizontal wrinkles along the luff are pulled smooth? On my North sails, you can go from horizontal wrinkles all the way up (looser halyard), to really smooth (tighter), and then if you want to add cunnigham in a blow you can pull the draft forward. North's trim guide calls for wrinkles up a third of the way as the right "average" halyard tension, if I remember correctly. Mike Noone can probably give you an idea on trim. Phil Scheetz FS 4086

Phil Scheetz

FS 4086

Fleet 163, Nockamixon Sail Club

Phil: I did not notice the wrinkles yet, just the bolt rope.

Submitted by frank barbehenn on Wed, 08/22/2007 - 22:20.
Phil: I did not notice the wrinkles yet, just the bolt rope. And no I could not tighten the bolt rope all the way. I will likely be out sailing this Saturday and will cruise with the new sails and see what I can notice. I did play with the vang for a few moments (I didn't want to take too much time with the main full up on dry land with possible light gust) and seemed like I simply couldn't flatten the sail much versus the old sail. Yes, I had the outhaul tight doing it. I will measure the luff bolt length on the old sail and compare to the new. Thanks for the input. Maybe the sail is supposed to be this way...I have no reference point except my old sail. Frank

Frank, did you take a look at the tuning guide on the Shurr Sail

Submitted by Kurt Steinbock on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 11:27.
Frank, did you take a look at the tuning guide on the Shurr Sails web site? That may hold part of the answer, too. Kurt

Frank, We use a set of Quantums and as we raise it we leave t

Submitted by tweisleder on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 16:03.
Frank, We use a set of Quantums and as we raise it we leave the tack un pinned. Then we feed the rest of the luff bolt rope back into the slot, then fix the tack. To do this you need to leave the outhaul and vang off. That should fix your problem. But also when in doubt call Schurr, they are good guys. On looking at sail shape on land....that is really tough to do without some sort of breeze in it. If you went to a cascade system, you should be able to get plenty of vang on. When we put it on we crank it, the boom is really bent (until we let it off). If you feel that you still dont have enough after you have pulled it as hard as you like, I would take up one of the dead ends of the vang to shorten the 'throw'. Regards, Travis Weisleder 5341

How old are your Schurr sails? The bolt rope tends to shrink ov

Submitted by mmittman on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 19:22.
How old are your Schurr sails? The bolt rope tends to shrink over time making it more of a challange to fully hoist the sail and acheive proper luff tension. Sometimes people have a sailmaker cut the bolt rope stitching at the tack of the sail, relaxing the bolt rope, then restiching. Gus Sails do not sew the bolt rope at the tack and builds sails with slightly extra bolt rope, this works very nicely! Michael Mittman FS 5804
quote:
[i]Originally posted by frank barbehenn[/i] [br]I am just learning my way and now sails are a new area to get a feel for. Specifically, I purchased new Schurr Sails and, while not having yet sailed with them, I did raise the new main in calm air while in dry storage to get a look at the main and put on a new cascade vang system. At any rate, the Schurr sail, when raised to the top of the mast, still had about an extra inch of luff bolt rope at the bottom and the foot of the sail struck us as very "baggy"--both aspects being compared to my very old sail of a couple decades which was tighter in the bolt rope when raised--no slack in the bolt rope--and much less baggy at the foot. Does anyone have any feedback that might help assess this situation? Of course, I have emailed Schurr sails and FLying Scot for advice.
Michael Mittman FS# 5804, Fleet 23 Corinthian Sailing Club White Rock Lake Dallas, TX

Michael Mittman

FS 5804, Fleet 23

Corinthian Sailing Club

White Rock Lake, Dallas, TX, USA