Nylon Mainsail Seatrial 2 - A Success!

[capt_nemo]

A homemade gaff headed mainsail was made out of JoAnn Fabrics Rip Stop Nylon. Lightweight telescoping gaff and boom with PVC goosenecks were made to support the four corners of the Nylon Mainsail. The basic fit was checked with boat on the trailer in the storage yard and found satisfactory.

Seatrial 1 proved that a light telescoping boom 13' long for clew and tack foot attachment of a loose footed gaff headed free flying Mainsail was just not stiff enough to handle the forces when winds built to around 10 knots or so.

Decided to go back to using the original boom with mainsail flaked and tied down. But this meant supporting the boom's weight with main stowed and not interfere with the gaff or Nylon Mainsail. The lightweight telescoping gaff with homemade PVC gooseneck worked reasonably well. The Throat and peak halyards were disconnected from the original gaff and used on the telescoping gaff.

So I spent about an hour at the ramp rigging the Nylon Main and a SECOND Topping Lift on the starboard side led aft to the cockpit. Together with the original portside Topping Lift I would switch Topping Lifts depending on which tack I was on - the windward one taut (weight bearing) and the leeward one slack (no chafe and no interference with Nylon Mainsail shape). This is similar to the technique of alternating Running Backstays on some rigs.

Hoisted sail out in Charlotte Harbor, with one Topping Lift taut and the other slack, and oh what a beautiful sight it was! The orange and green Nylon horizontal panels I had sewn together caught the light air, the sail took shape and the boat began to move well. Dropped the sail twice and rehoisted to adjust the gaff outhaul and other rigging to suit my fancy and sailed around a bit. Hoisted my homemade orange Nylon Drifter and the two sails worked quite well together.

Tacked several times switching Topping Lifts, handling Drifter Sheets, and the Mainsheet and it wasn't hard at all. The Boomkicker may be a suitable alternative to Double Topping Lifts but I haven't decided yet.

My camera broke recently and has not been replaced yet. Photos will be provided as soon as available.

[Bob23]

Wow, Capt:
   Can't wait to see the photos! This could be the dawn of a new light air mainsail for "Koinonia". But we don't get too many light air days around here.
Best to you and Mrs. Nemo,
Bob23

[skip1930]

Morning Captain. Now THAT looks and sounds like a very well thought out project.

JoAnn Fabrics Rip Stop Nylon is weight in ounces. 1/2 ounce or...when my buddies house burned up last Memorial Day Monday his CP-19 sails were a victim. I dug out the remains of the spinnaker and made some sails out of the Rip Stop Nylon for a small pond sail boat model I have. Hand sewn.

The sewing machine begs a question as to who the manufacture might be?
I'm wondering about the stitchery pattern. Looks 'Factory'.

I am not sure if the rig is for a CP-16 or other model. I guess I can look~see back at the older capt_nemo posts. As to color choice, I'm of the mind to believe that a bit-O-Irish comes into play. Can't wait to view the outcome when hoisted high in the rig.

I guess in theory a little bit more square foot of sail is presented? And that's a good thing in light winds. Some wind is really necessary to prevent the gaff from flopping about and jibing up there.

skip.  As we know, hold the Ctrl key down and click on the + key to enlarge and be able to read the picture/print better. Hold the Ctrl and tap the - key to shrink back down. Accidents don't happen. You have to let them happen. "Laundry shoved under the hot water ring burner"...AKA--> clutter! <--

[capt_nemo]

Skip,
Don't know what the weight of the Nylon is - wasn't marked and salesperson couldn't tell me. I'm guessing its .75oz because it doesn't seem really too light or flimsy. But it could even be heavier - no basis for comparison.

Sewing machine is my wife's very old Husqvarna VIKING Model 350 which is the only one she lets me use. Her costly computerized VIKING Designer Diamond embroidery/sewing machine is strictly off limits to me. Followed standard sailmaking practice with two rows of zig zag stiches on panel seams as well as head, foot and leech edges and corner reinforcing patches, with straight stiches along the nylon line reinforcing the entire luff edge and wrapped around the head and tack corners, backed up with two parallel zig zag stitch lines to hold the folded edge down. This was my 5th homemade sail and I learn something with each one.

The rig is for a Com Pac Sun Cat that comes with a single gaff headed mainsail. It's not more square footage of sail presented but a LIGHTER Nylon Fabric main, which fills more easily in light air and stays filled working for you, instead of the heavier one unfilled, limp, and slatting, driving an otherwise sane sailor nuts!

Interestingly, the light air Nylon Drifter I made first, while only 38 sq. ft.  makes a noticeable difference when flown together with the Nylon Main. It really adds DRIVE as a headsail should.

capt_nemo