135% jib/genoa?

[Pamelina]

Hi All, thanks for All the welcomes! Took Forever 16 out yesterday to check sails out and mostly bobbed around with no wind. It was hot but figured it was a good time to see how it all goes together. The PO added new sails last year and the main looks really nice. I had trouble with the jib, though. I checked his sail order, and it now has a 135, larger I guess than the original jib. The cam cleat with the wire guide does not work at all. When I loosened the jib (or is a 135 a genoa?) the sheets just jammed between the wire guide and the cams. The cam is the Ronstan Medium ( which I saw was the size on Com-pac's price list) and the sheets are 1/4 ".
I'm guess I need new fair lead and /or blocks. Any suggestions for size and placement?

Here's the fun part, with almost no wind I was still able to sail to the dock and tie up by myself! None of my friends would ever think all that heat and no wind was fun!

[JTMeissner]

Pamelina, are there no tracks or additional cams/cleats towards the stern? 

I believe the original foresail was a 110 jib (genoa).  This (or I suppose smaller) would run through the cam cleats on the front of the cockpit.

My bigger sail is a 155, which I think folks bought for light air, but the original design didn't have these sails considered.  Many folks put tracks with adjustable blocks/cams to properly trim the genoas along the coaming on the outside of the cockpit.  The PO on my boat just added clam cleats (reversed) along the coaming, and I run the sheets from the sail, through the center hole in the stern tie-off cleats, and back to the clams as necessary.  This is somewhat a guess on my part, but the cleats have obvious wear from sheets running through them.  So, while I can't strongly recommend this method, it does work and it didn't cost me anything...

I think tracks give you the most options, be it a 135, a 155, or even a spinnaker/gennaker later down the line.  I know there a some photos linked on this site that shows some examples.

-Justin

[Pamelina]

Thanks for that, Justin. There are no other blocks or tracks toward the stern. Interesting that the cleats on your stern are wearing out. I would have thought the sheets would go first! Must be good line! I might just give it a try next time out and see how the lead is.

[Salty19]

Yep, JT is right.  You need a means to trim further aft, the standard cam cleat for a 110% jib will not work.

There are a couple of ways to go about it. First thing to remember is the sheets should be pointing to the middle of the headsail's luff (the forward edge). You want to consider if you'll ever get a reefing furler. If so, you definitely want a track to adjust the sheet angle depending on how far in you reef the sail.  Even if you are not planning on a furler, you might want another sail in the future so a track would be helpful again.  No two sails are going to maintain the same sheet angle, so the location the sheet leaves the boat changes.

Or you could mount something fixed like JT has once you've figured out the right spot to put it, but it won't work well on other sails or with a furler.  
I doubt running the sheet of the aft cleat will be the right angle on a 135%, the right location is probably where a passengers back would rest in the forward part of the cockpit or thereabouts.

Now the problem with long tracks on a 16 is there is no straight location to mount them.  Hutchins did offer pre-bent Ronstan C track that matched the curve of the coaming, but I'm not sure they do that anymore.  4 or 5 years back I bought what I thought was full length tracks but they were only about 18" and they were not pre-bent. With a furler, I wanted more adjustability. I've seen pics of really nice pre-bent tracks screwed into the length of the coaming with adjustable bullseye cam cleats, and that is a nice clean setup.

Anyway the 16's coaming had teak railings on her, so I just bought a 5" track and screwed it in, using the Hutchins supplied bullseye cam cleat that fit said Ronstan C tracks (which I couldn't find elsewhere) since the 18" tracks just didn't seem like enough adjustability.

I attempted to bend the tracks with a vice, wood block and a small sledgehammer. They bent a little bit, but not much.  Matching to the coaming would be tough by hand IMO.








Note the bull eye points out, sheets point in off the cam, it was just sloppy sitting there on the trailer as it swivels.
This setup is the best way to go IMO and made trimming sail a breeze.

I would call Hutchins and ask about pre-bent 5" long tracks with those bullseye cleats. If that fails, might need to do some more research on it.  Last thing you want to do it drill holes in the boat for a part you later regret installing. 

[Pamelina]

Hi Salty, Thanks for the info and the photos. Before I could check out my fair lead position for the Genoa I went out with just the main and discovered problems with that.  You've helped me with that, too, so thanks on both accounts. I plan to order the short track from Hutchins so I have choices as to where to sheet. Thanks again!