This can drive you to oversheet the main in an attempt to improve set, which might make it look better, but actually makes things worse. ![]() That means that the first few inches of the luff will be in turbulence when close-hauled, no matter what you do. And when running in light airs in a seaway, it does wonders to keep the boom from snatching or accidentally gybing.Īnother tip: gaffers tend to have thick masts with lacing or hoops. It improves reaching and even close reaching in light airs. That's where you want to be.Įasing the peak helps, not only when running. Sit to leeward and stare at the jib's luff till you can see that first going soft before luffing. By the way, if you don't have flys on your jib's luff, despair not. Compare that to best main trim following best jib trim. Experiment with getting close to the wind with the jib loose and then see what happens as you trim the jib. Many boats are dictated by jib trim but not all. This works as a first approxomation on the wind. Tighten the peak till the radiating creases appear and then ease till they go. My first theory of luff and peak tension is tighten the luff till wrinkles parallel to the luff won't come out when the sail is full. All the Wianno fleet does that but I've noticed that gaff rigged boats that are not raced don't bother. Good observation about easing the peak a nudge off the wind. A schooner's foresail often has a gaff that's a bit closer to horizontal and boats like Marmalade (25' catboat) have very high peaks with long long gaffs.īut the notion of keeping her a hair off the wind, at 50 degrees and tacking through 100 degrees, rather than the modern sloop's 45-90 or even tighter, is good as well. I think Getting Salty meant that the gaff peaks up to about 50 degrees, which is fairly average. If the gaff isn't designed to bend a great deal, then you can get the opposite where peak tension pulls more draught into the sail ( tightening the peak or slackening the throat acheives much the same ) Like the wiannos( Thanks Ian) where they don't reef and have to carry full sail through, then the gaff works the same as a modern fractional where bend flattens sail.Ie they sweat on peak to flatten and depower. If your jibs aren't right, the most perfect main set in the world won't do squat.Īs to main trim and shape, It goes 2 ways depending on how the gaff is set up. People make the assumption that a gaff boat performs as it does because of the obvious difference and that is the 4 sided main. Windward work is all based around jib luff tension.Then sheet angle, then staysail, then main. You start with the headsail and work back. Gotta love the versital, adjustable gaff rig. What tricks have you found with your gaffer? Im still a bit mistified with boom position for beating and I'm sure there are lots of other things I don't eaven know I should be thinking about. It made the diference between looking pretty and ruffling some racers feathers. The mains'l bellied out some and I could feel the old girl take the bit and go. I was in 10 kts and flat seas trying to catch similar sized modern race tub, (they really hate getting passed by an old boat) I wasn't making any progress when I lowered the peak 2 or 3 degrees. ![]() Only recently have I found the benifit of lowering the peak off the wind. Upwind, keeping the peak high helps reduce sag to the point where I only use the vang to keep the gaff off the shrouds when running. I have found that peak trim is super crucial. I have a DeVries Lentsch sloop with a proportionaly large main and a 50 degree gaff. I haven't found one so I thought I would start this. I have been lurking for quite a while and have hoped to find a thread devoted to gaff sail trim. To advertise, take a look at WoodenBoat Advertising, or use your Google Adwords account if you want to advertise on the Forum. Selling/self promotion postings are verboten on the Forum. No need to register unless you would like to participate, although some images will only show if you are registered/logged-in.īefore you can post: click the red register link or the register tab, above, right. You'll find answers to the frequently asked questions as well as basic rules. To get WoodenBoat delivered to your door or computer, mobile device of choice, etc, click WB Subscriptions.Ĭheck out the FAQ. The Forum is a free service, and much like the "free" content on Public Radio, we hope you will support WoodenBoat by subscribing to this fabulous magazine. The WoodenBoat Forum is sponsored by WoodenBoat Publications, publisher of WoodenBoat magazine.
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