Forums › General Discussion › Ketch Mainsail

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    • #222374
      Miss Kathleen
      Participant

      I am looking at replacing the mainsail.

      Full batten,
      3 reefs
      Loose footed

      Any advice on sail weight? Or anything else to look out for.

      Appreciated.

      Dennis

    • #222375
      unabated
      Participant
      You didn’t say what you were going to do with it.  Sail the bay, cross an ocean,  weekends at the dock? 
      Before  you can consider the weight and accessories. 
      Alan 

    • #222385
      ewanoleary
      Participant
      What is the advantage of the loose foot? I’ve not sailed my boat yet, and in preparation for that, I’m going over my sails and rig.
      I’ve only ever sailed with mains on the boom…
      Ewan

    • #222386
      RichCarter
      Participant

      The ketch rig comes in two heights, 44’ and 48’.  Which do you have?

       

      Are you looking for new or used?   I replaced my main a couple of years ago.  Nothing wrong with the old sail but I race my boat and decided to replace the sails.  I could give you a deal on a used full-batten main if you are interested.  I live in NH.

       

      Two reefs seem to be enough but I suppose three won’t hurt.   I told my rigger to go with a heavier than standard cloth because the 424 is a stiff boat and can handle higher winds before reefing.  Offhand, I don’t remember what weight they are.

       

      Rich

       

    • #222389
      Revery
      Moderator

      Ewan,
      Not to hijack the thread, but here’s a link to one man’s explanation of why loose-footed. I found it informative…
      Loose Foot vs. Attached Foot

    • #222390
      john stevenson
      Participant
      2 years ago I replaced my standard main sail with one with a loose foot.  Unfortunately, for health reasons I haven't gotten a lot of use out of it.  So the only thing I can offer is the reasons I went with the loose foot.
      1. Cost: Less hardware and no need for a shelf on the foot of the sail.
      2. Foot Tension:  It was always difficult to change the tension on the foot of the old mainsail because of friction between the slides and boom track.
      As you can see those are not major issues.  I see no significant advantage or disadvantage between the two types of main sail.

    • #222391
      john stevenson
      Participant
      Just thought of one advantage of the boom attached foot with a shelf.  Kids can use the mainsail like a hammock.  I understand it scares the s**t out of moms.  No wife or kids so no advantage here.

    • #222394
      RichCarter
      Participant

      My new main is loose-footed.  The foot doesn’t do anything to help sailing performance.  It can collect water so when you raise the sail it dumps the water onto your deck and feet.  It makes the sail a bit more difficult to bend on and off.  It also makes the sail more expensive.  I can’t think of any use for it.  If your main has a foot, I see no reason to have it removed though.

       

      Rich

       

    • #222396
      Tor
      Participant

      I emailed back about this with input about sail cloth weight, thread, fittings, number of reefs; specifics I thought would be helpful. Apparently, however, my emails to this forum have not been accepted or posted for ewans. (That’s a pun.) Wish I could’ve been of assistance, but I seem to be excommunicated.

      Those of you who mail me to kick 424 ideas around off-forum – a bunch lately – I’m always happy to help if I can.

      Reef early, (That’s the best advice.)

      Tor

      Attachments:
      1. fetching-martinique.jpg

    • #222398
      dhjppn
      Participant
      Hey tor
      Try emailing again just for giggles and add me as a cc address. 
      Thanks
      – pat

    • #222400
      ewanoleary
      Participant
      I’ve asked our developer to contact you directly to see what’s going on. You should have emails from her at tor@.us
      We’d appreciate it if you tried emailing the forum directly again, especially since you have had some success receiving emails recently.
      I’m wondering if the emails you forwarded me might be too large with all the photos – there is a limit to what we can process, unfortunately. I suggest 6 MB to be safe.
      We’d really appreciate it if you tried posting directly to the site when you can. That’s also open as a way to interact, rather than drawing conclusions. There is enough of that in civil society to the point where ‘assume good intent’ is being tested.
      Thanks for your help in troubleshooting.
    • #222401
      ewanoleary
      Participant
      I had a thought – for those of you (owners) struggling with email delivery, what if we offered you a mailbox on the pearson424.org domain for your boat? That way delivery would be guaranteed?
      Ideas? Takers? 

    • #222402
      kalinowski
      Participant
      Makes sense.

    • #222407
      Janie Ashworth
      Participant
      We are game for that idea.  
      Peregrine 

      Janie Ashworth

      217-556-1551
       
    • #222408
      Janie Ashworth
      Participant
      I have not had any trouble getting the emails, but a dedicated address for just sailing would be great!  I keep thinking I am getting Spam E mails.  

      Janie Ashworth

      217-556-1551
       
    • #222411
      Tor
      Participant

      A few notes from my new-mainsail order a few years ago:

      New Mainsail – $2,450, 9.03 oz, full battens with HD slides, telltales, 2 sets reef points, US-made Dacron, the most UV-resistant American-made sail thread available (it’s worth paying a little extra for it!), and no Chinese fittings anywhere.

      Silverheels’ original mainsail had 3 reef points, but the 1st was very shallow and in 4 years of cruising I never did use it. So I opted for just 2 reef points in the new main, and it has proven ample. If I were sailing in high latitudes where a 3rd, very deep reef might be missed, it seems to me the proper sail to be using then would be a storm-trysail. On the rare occasions when the 2nd-reef in the main is still too much canvas up, I just douse it and use the jib & mizzen.

      I have free-footed main & mizzen sails now, mainly because that’s what the sailmaker thought best. I haven’t discovered any disadvantages.

      Reef early,

      Tor
      ——————
      Pearson 424 ~~ #17
      424@silverheels.us
      http://www.silverheels.us
      ——————

      • This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Tor.
      • This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Tor.
      • This reply was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Tor.
    • #222413
      sumocean
      Participant

      Rich
      My sail is the original I think. Blown out is putting it nicely. I would like to talk about the used sail. You can contact me directly at sumocean@suddenlink.net if you are interested in selling it. I have a bartender from NH so it may be possible to have it picked up.
      Linus

    • #222416
      ewanoleary
      Participant
      We can always use forsale@pearson424.org
      Now that it’s tor approved!! 🙂
      With love!

    • #222418
      Miss Kathleen
      Participant

      Thanks for the input. Been offline whilst travelling.

      Use – Ocean cruising. Plan is to head north from New Zealand and cruise the Pacific going via the Line Islands, Hawaii, US and then …..

      I think our existing main is the original, and has little shape left. Genoa and mizzen are new. Mizzen is loose footed. As mentioned above, that is what the sail maker went with.

      The probe for a new main was based on some folk getting sails from fareastsail.com. Sail for a P424 is $2800, and special price of $1500.

      Rich,
      What is the deal on the second hand sail? That is if you don’t mind packing to NZ at my cost.

      Cheers

      Dennis

    • #222419
      RichCarter
      Participant

      Dennis,

      Dale Longtin said he wants it.  First-come, first-serve. 

       

      I replaced mine three years ago and at that time offered my old main for sale to anyone in the group who was interested.  Nobody responded. 

       

      The replacement is from Doyle, a local loft.  It ran me $5000.  A good chunk of that was the Tides Marine slide setup.  This includes a new plastic low-friction track that slides into the existing mainsail track.  Though plastic, the track is very robust.  It’s UHMW, a kind of polyethylene.  The sail gets special stainless swivel slides.  The batten pocket ends need to be specially cut to attach to the slide assembly.  It’s best to refit to the slide system when ordering a new sail since it involves a bit of work to refit.

      https://www.tidesmarine.com/pdf/sailtrack/Sailtrack_Catalog.pdf

       

      The track system makes raising and lowering the main easier.  It’s not a perfect solution.  The full-battens in the previous sail twisted when raising and lowering the sail making it difficult to handle.  The Tides Track has swivels built into the slides so the battens stay in line.  The slides travel in a low-friction track so they don’t bind when trimming sail tension.  Battens add a lot of weight to the sail so it’s still a bit of work to raise.  Lowering it is easier since it drops to the boom without having to pull it down.

       

      Rich

       

    • #222422
      Miss Kathleen
      Participant
      Hi Rich,
      No problem.
      I have to consider the track system as well.
      Thanks
      Dennis

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