Anyone know what the design considerations are for sails that connect at the clew directly to the blocks, around the boom, vs the older style that connect to the boom, with the outhaul connected to the piece that holds the clew, and blocks on a separate tang?
It seems that the length of the foot would be more important with the newer style -- too short and none of it would work at all, but too long and you're going to break something by fighting the mast rotation/outhaul w/ an 8:1.
It also seems that with the semi-fixed outhaul on the newer style that the usage of the downhaul changes to include more of the function of the outhaul.
So are the sails designed differently overall? ..or is it still just specific to the characteristics of the boat as a whole without any one overall consideration for the different style connection to the boom?
Hopefully that makes sense, any insight is appreciated.
I've sailed quite a few boats, but of the more modern ones I'm limited to an I17, an I20, and an SL16. The SL16 is the only one that has the 'new style', but I'm not familiar enough with that boat to pick up any nuances...probably not smart enough to pick up any nuances on any boat, which is why I'm asking.
Thanks
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Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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