Submitted on July 5, 2005 by Larry Shulman

Question: I have a 2000 Catalina 400 with a 155% jib.

Not sure if sail is shaped correctly and if I am trimming correctly. Sail is stock and 5 years old, I went out today in 15 k and tried looking at it without main up and found it did not fill or have tell tales flying textbook like. Is it possible that the sail has stretched or am I just not trimmed right?

Thank you,
Larry Shulman

Answer: Hi Larry,

It is hard to comment on whether your sail is in good shape from the information you have provided. However, if it is a Dacron 155% jib, it is probably built from relatively light weight fabric. In 15 knots of breeze you will be pushing the limits of the cloths shape holding ability. In that much wind you need a very tight halyard to keep the draft of the sail near the luff. You will also want to make the headstay as tight as possible. The backstay, and to a lesser extent the side stays have a direct effect on the headstay tension. The headstay is also tensioned through mainsheet tension so if your mainsail is not in use, your headstay will be sagging more than the sail designer anticipated. A sagging headstay will make the sail deeper, especially in the top half of the sail.

After you tighten your standing rigging and backstay, and hoist your mainsail, you can work on adjusting the sail shape. If the maximum draft position is in the aft section of the sail, tighten the halyard. To tighten the halyard you will have to ease the sheet and wind on the halyard winch until the sail has a hard crease along the luff, from tack to head. Once you sheet back in the crease will be absorbed by sail stretch.

With the draft nearer the luff of the sail, you can now adjust the sheet car to get the best sail shape. The rough adjustment should position the car so that the sheet is aiming at a point on the luff halfway between the tack and head. With the car in this position, sheet the sail in until the foot touches the shroud turnbuckles. If you have too much backwind in the mainsail, move the sheet car aft to allow the upper leech to of the headsail to move away from the mainsail. If the leech is well off the spreader tip when the sail touches the turnbuckles at the foot, then move the car farther forward.

In 15 knots of breeze or more, don't worry too much about the telltales relative to one another. Set the sail up as described above and adjust the car position and sheet tension based on the mainsail backwind.

Regards,
Dan Neri

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