Installing Telltales

[eegrek]

I have an old Catalina 27 and none of the sails have telltales. The boat is new to us (1 year now) and I would love to install some telltales on the main, jib, and genoa to hel with sail trimming, but have no idea how to go about that. Any info on where to place them, and how to make them (or where to buy them) would be great!

[roverhi]

Most Chandleries will have stick on tell tales made up. Grossly expensive for what they are but still only a few dollars. On the head sail, they should be 1'-2' back from the edge and equal spaced. 3 would probably do it. If you want to do it cheap, get some light weight yarn and sew it through the sail. Knotting each side to hold them in place. About 6"-10" on each side.
On the main, they are typically on the Leech streaming off the sail.

[GordMay]

Guides to installing and reading telltales:

➥ WB-Sails Ltd

➥ Jasper & Bailey Sailmakers