Sail is wrinkled

[kevinhegeman]

Please give me some tips to fix the sail not tight near bottom of the mast. Thanks

[Simi 60]

Here you go (;

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Here you go (;

Sweet baby jeebus
Some of the comments...!

Haha,
LittleWing77

[BillKny]

It looks like insufficient halyard tension.

It’s one of those sail controls people don’t really understand, so they blow it off as not important. But luff tension makes a huge difference in the shape of the sail and should change with the wind strength.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Sweet baby jeebus
Some of the comments...!

Haha,
LittleWing77

Indeed, but clearly I was not being serious.

[Calif.Ted]

It appears to be an in mast furler that is not fully unfurled, can you get the rest of the sail out ?
You won't really know or be able to correct it otherwise.

[Montanan]

Please indicate how this sail is affixed to the mast and boom, the picture does not provide any assistance, it only shows the wrinkle bits.


If it can't be pulled taught then perhaps a good ironing might resolve it.

[kevinhegeman]

Thanks for the comments. And the funny ones too. Always can use a good laugh.

I'm new at this. Next week I'll extend the sail fully, then slowly furl it and watch closely.
Perhaps it needs some outhaul tension or a heading adjustment to the wind.

Should it be furled close haul? Or should I relax the line a bit?

We'll see next week.

Really appreciate everyone's reply.

[kevinhegeman]

Yes. Halyard tension I'll check once it's out fully.

I believe the sail is attached to the mast with guides.

Attached to the boom with a slider.

[Benz]

Looks like it's furling unevenly: after checking halyard tension, fiddle around with how much tension you put on the outhaul while furling it. Also make sure your boom angle is right, since it could be feeding the sail in unevenly if too high or low.

[kevinhegeman]

Thanks.
The boom vang appears to be fixed. I believe it's spring loaded. No easy obvious adjustment.
I'll have to take a photo once I get back to the boat.

[LittleWing77]

Hey Kev,

Now that my poking fun at Simi is through, I'll try a serious response.

So back to basic principles: When raising the main, the boat should be head-to-wind, with topping lift *on* (holding up the boom while you set your halyard tension) and anything that would be pulling down on the main should be *off*.

This includes the mainsheet as well as the boom vang, any and all reefs, outhaul and cunningham. Traveller should be centred. If you have running backstays, tension should be off-to-loose to start.

When you raise your main you want the halyard tension to be firm like a drum at the luff edge (unless you're sailing in light winds),
without north-south creases (which means tension is too tight).

Once the halyard tension is set, then it's time for all the other controls to come on. Topping lift comes off, then set your outhaul, boom vang and mainsheet. Add some backstay tension and check your sail shape.

In your third picture, it seems as if the boom is lifted at the outhaul end, creating an awkward angle at the gooseneck, perhaps creating those angled creases (the creases in your pictures are not typical north-south creases of an over-tensioned halyard).

Either that, or your main hasn't got all the way to the top and may be bunching up at the boom.

I'm also wondering about your outhaul tension? It also looks as if the foot of your main may not be fed all the way across the boom thus creating a little pocket at the mast.

Those are all of my first-approximation ideas, but as another poster mentioned, we can't see the whole set-up, which might provide some more clues.

In the second picture, I have no idea what is going on. It looks like the luff-edge isn't properly fed, but that's just me guessing. I really can't tell what the heck is going on there!

Hope this is helpful,
Warmly,
LittleWing77

Edit: Just now seeing that someone mentioned it may be a furling main, is that right? The mast doesn't look big enough, but maybe that's just me. If it is a furling main, then some of the "first principles" above will apply and some won't. For instance, the outhaul is employed differently in a furling main... <Sigh> Well, take my tips under advisement, then. Gawd how I hate furling mains! (Sorry Kev. No insult to your boat intended.)

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by kevinhegeman

Yes. Halyard tension I'll check once it's out fully.

I believe the sail is attached to the mast with guides.

Attached to the boom with a slider.

The sail is attached to the furler extrusion that rotates inside of your mast. The same attachment system that your headsail uses, just a simple luff cord (rope).