Re: Loose foot the main to reduce weather helm?

[Potcake boy]

On my trimaran, which the sails generated far high loads than our modest Com-Pacs, I secured the loose footed clew with a heavy duty Velcro strap. I used three turns around the boom and through the cringle of heavy duty 1" wide velcro strip. The boom had an internal outhaul of 6:1 ratio. For Com-Pacs a 4:1 should be quite adequate. It would be good to either have an internal outhaul with the exit center boom, or at least lead the external line to a point that can be easily reached even with the boom eased out. Also consider your own body leverage, for example, make sure you can easily and safely haul it with your body instead of just your arms.

When you start getting into the use of an outhaul, don't forget that when the wind gets super light you need to flatten a bit as the low pressure air won't stick to a sail with too much cord depth. With a loose footed main and an easy to use outhaul, you can better fine tune and see the results of you sail trim. Also, don't forget that a loose footed main works best with full battens as they help to keep a good shape to your sail.

Most of all, enjoy these boats for what they were designed. They are not race boats so don't focus on speed. They are easily driven on a reach or before the wind so you can get decent speed with a decent ride. If you try to push too hard (too much sail or trimmed for power) you'll end up with weather helm that makes the boat slower and diminished handling. You'll also discourage the less than hard core from going sailing with you.