[Public-List] New mainsail...

[Gordon Laco]

Hello Gang,

I must be becoming an adult…

Last year I bit the bullet and bought a new genoa.  A new sail is a wonderful thing, but sadly I didn’t notice much of a change in SURPRISE’s performance.  Silly me, I realized later that our main was long past the blush of youth and it’s the main getting bagged out that leads to heavy helm, and that leads to a slow boat upwind.

So this spring I ordered a new main.  Now I’ve got a one year old genny and a brand new main.   I’ve finally broken the silly schedule I was on where I always had one old sail and one new one.  We bent the main on last night… can’t wait to take it out for its first sail.

A new sail is truly a wonderful thing…

Gordon Laco
#426 Surprise

PS - I can’t remember how many times I’ve been told by A30 sailors that our boats have mains that are too big, and that is why their boats are heavy on the helm.  I met one fellow who told me he was using an old Dragon main and he figured THAT, with it’s short foot, was a better sail.   No, no no.   The reason for heavy helm is either simply slack outhauls, incorrect mast rake, or bagged a bagged out mainsail that needs to be replaced.  There’s no reason why an A30 shouldn’t be sweet-sailing with light helm…