Why do those cats have so much sail twist? I was taught (a long time ago sailing Lasers) that the mainsail should be trimmed so that the upper batten is parallel to the boom, unless going downwind.

Yet those boats don't have a boom vang that would do that. Puzzled...

Dan

when you say "those cats" which cats are you talking about?

and when you say "those boats" which boats do you mean?

either way

due to cats being wider they can get away with taller masts than monohulls of the same length

these high aspect sails don't behave the same way as low aspect sails like on the laser

on a laser if you have the mainsheet pulled in and then release it a few feet the boom will go out and you will spill air out the leach of the sail

on a cat with a tall mast when you release a few feet of mainsheet the boom will only go out a little but the top of the sail will twist off alot, spilling the air vertically out the top of the sail

Quote

when you say "those cats" which cats are you talking about?

and when you say "those boats" which boats do you mean?

Prindle 18-2 in my case, but I noticed this extreme twist on other beach cats.

Thanks for your explanations--makes more sense now.

Dan

not sure if this pic will post but here goes, shows a 17foot nacra from the rear with the boom pretty much centered and the sail slowly twisting off as it rises

http://saktomj.multiply.c…/album/11/Boats#photo=10



edited by: erice, Sep 07, 2009 - 04:12 PM