[Rhodes22-list] trimming a furling mainsail

[David Rasberry]

Jim,

I have not observed leech flutter on Rummy's and Ed's boats under sail. The
furling main is cut straight on the leech, no roach, so flutter should not
be a problem. Outhaul tension is much more of a tuning adjustment on a loose
footed sail than on one with a bound foot. It plays an important role in
controlling shape and draft in different conditions. My heavily roached
standard main (gloucester 22) does have some leech flutter evident, but this
is because the sail is worn and needs attention. My jib has the same
problem.
If one wants good performance in heavy air, a vang is helpful downwind. The
Rhodes can be setup with a vang in the conventional manner when sailed with
the pop-top down. In the kind of light to moderate wind pop-top up party
sailing that many Rhodies enjoy, the vang is not important.

Razz

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-admin@rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-admin@rhodes22.org]On Behalf Of James B. Connolly
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 4:16 AM
To: rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] trimming a furling mainsail


The following advice was recentlty promulgated on Sailnet.  The Rodes 22 is
not (normally, at least) equipped with a vang.  I recall some talk of the
backstay-mounted traveler compensating (partly?) for the lack of a vang.
Based on the attached description of the problem they had on their Beneteau
(I think) it doesn't seem to me that it would be a complete solution.

1.  Does the R-22 have noticable leach flutter as described here?  If so,
how is the leach flutter dealt with?

2.  Do you spend a lot of time fiddling with outhaul tension?


Jim Connolly
wannabe



> Mainsail Furling Issues
> What can you tell me about trimming a furling mainsail without battens?
>
> Sue & Larry respond:
> Our first cruising boat had an in-mast, roller-furling mainsail and we
> found only a few differences in trimming that from a conventional
> mainsail.
> With no battens to support the leech of a traditional mainsail, it will
> flutter away and be very inefficient. To help reduce this problem on
> mainsails designed for roller-furling use, the sail has been modified by
> cutting away some of the leech and leaving a much more concave looking
> shape. This certainly helps with the fluttering leech problem,
> but doesn't
> entirely remove it.
> The boomvang is your best help here. By tightening down on the boomvang,
> the end of the boom is pulled down, resulting in the leech tightening and
> allowing the sail to hold a good shape with no flutter. The snugging down
> of the boomvang, in combination with some outhaul tension, always
> gave us a
> reasonable sail shape for sailing upwind. As we bore away from
> the wind, we
> would release some of the boomvang pressure and some of the outhaul
> tension. You'll find that as you point further away from the wind, the
> leech has less of a tendency to want to flap, and the leech tension is no
> longer needed, nor desirable for good sail shape.
> Just a tip we learned about using our in-mast roller furler: It's often
> necessary to fully release the vang tension prior to furling in the sail.
> This will help eliminate any snags as the sail is rolled into the
> extrusion. Good luck.

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