Submitted on September 18, 2005 by Larry Green

Question: Hi,

I have two questions. I have a Tayana 52’ we had built in 1999. The North Loft in Annapolis measured and built the fully battened main and a roller furling staysail and about 125% roller furling Genoa.

Earlier this summer on a passage from Ft. Myers Florida around Key West and offshore up the east coast we had some sail related problems. All were similar.

First, in light to moderate wind the head of the Genoa failed (some of the stitches on the webbing attaching the ring to the sail failed then the last piece of the webbing let go). A day later the same thing happened to the main clew fitting. We put into Little Creek for some temporary repairs and on further inspection found the same webbing at all the other attachment points was close to failure. WE reinforced/re-stitched (by hand) all the attachment rings and went on our way. It seems to me that even with sacrificial covers on the roller furling headsails and religious use of the sail cover on the main that these points are more vulnerable to sun damage. It was suggested that we leather the clew, head and tack rings on both headsails and the mainsail to protect the webbing straps from chafe and sun damage. What are your thoughts?

The second question has to do with the placement of the lower forward shrouds. There is a track on the cabin top for the staysail sheet leads. If we are using the staysail for windward work we need to run the sheets inboard of the lower forward shrouds. More than about 45% off the wind we need to run the sheets outboard of the forward lowers. Moving them is a royal pain as is pulling out the staysail when the sheets are run outboard of the shrouds. I am contemplating moving the lower shrouds inboard so the sheets always run outboard (structurally there is about 8 inches of space available). Or moving them outboard (there is about 5” in this direction) and have the sheets run inboard all the time. The foot of the staysail reaches just about to the mast. My question is; is there a minimum and maximum angle off centerline that would help in determining which is the better choice? More to the point, what is the best way to determine the optimal solution to this issue? Incidentally, movement in either direction would make passage along the side deck much easier.

Your suggestions will be appreciated.
Larry Green

Answer: Hi Larry,

I am sorry to hear about the stitching failures on your working sails. As you pointed out, the stitching and webbing on the corner hardware are among the most vulnerable parts of the sail. The stiffness of the genoa head keeps it from folding up perfectly flat when you roller furl the sail, so there is always some UV exposure there. The mainsail clew often extends past the end of the sail cover. Also, the Sunbrella material wears out and allows progressively more UV penetration. You should definitely have the corners of your sail restitched after 6 years of use, especially if a lot of that time is in the tropics.

At North Sails we use 138 or 207 weight thread for corner strapping on sails for boats like your Tayana. Anything over 92 is "UV Rated". But the thread is all polyester and it will degrade with UV exposure. We do not use leather covers on the corners because the leather retains moisture and can cause the materials under the cover to rot more quickly- at least that is the theory. On the other hand, we service some old sails with leather corner covers that are still in good shape after years of seasonal use in New England. I think the best answer is to have the corners restrapped and all of the other areas of the sails checked for UV degradation, including the stitching through the sun cover on the headsail. A rule of thumb for how often you should inspect the sail for UV degradation might be every 2 years if you are sailing in the tropics, every 4-5 years if you are sailing seasonally above 40 degrees latitude and you can interpolate if you are somewhere in between. Many of our professionally crewed yacht clients have us replace the corner strapping and stitching in the corners of their sails every other year.

The hassle of moving the staysail sheet around the forward shroud is a pretty common complaint. In my opinion, the best arrangement is to use a changing sheet rigged through an outboard lead. Moving the primary sheet to the outboard side of the forward shroud might eliminate the chafe problem, but it will leave the sheeting angle too far inboard and probably too far aft. If you move the shroud, you still have the same problem- the sheet lead to the inboard tracks will be ineffective and the top of the sail will be too twisted and luffing when ever you are sailing lower than about 45 degrees apparent.

Regards,
Dan Neri

Email North Sails with your question today!

Go BACK to Solutions for Sailors Main Page.