[alberg30] another boom query

[SandersM at aol.com]

From: SandersM at aol.com


In a message dated 10/7/99 7:24:01 AM, cjk at tir.com writes:

>When installing the track, I ended up cutting approximately 6 inches off the
>upper end of the gooseneck slide and extending the sail track this extra
>distance.  This was done to accommodate the stacked height of the bat cars
>on the boom (when in the furled   position) and facilitate the reefing
>process.

Okay, I see the logic of this, we're on the same wavelength.  Now, did you 
have your loft compensate for this change by having them cut the main six 
inches taller, so that it would still hoist to the masthead?  If so, then by 
adding 6-8 square feet of sail to the rig at the bottom of the main, have you 
altered the boat's sailing characteristics in any noticeable way?  If the 
added canvas improved her light-air performance without any adverse 
consequences in other conditions -- I would think that adding more sail at 
the foot without increasing mast height would increase the rig's power and 
lower its center of effort -- then wouldn't it make sense to run the new sail 
track down near the bottom of the old gooseneck track?  In other words, is 
there any reason why we shouldn't set the main with the boom at/near the 
bottom of the gooseneck track rather than the top?  

It sounds good in theory, but I wonder if anyone has done this and 
experienced any adverse consequences.  The boom would sweep the cockpit more 
closely, but I am six feet tall and the boom at rest now just touches my 
hair; I suppose a warning to taller crew on tacks would become necessary.  
I'm not a racer, but would the added canvas disqualify her from fleet racing? 
 

Sanders McNew 
WILD ELF (# 297)
New York City

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