Practical Boat Owner — January 2018

SEAMANSHIP

The headsail
This had presented a problem on our last
outing, partly because the sail was getting
old and stretched and also because it
appeared to have appreciably more
overlap than shown on Jeanneau’s
original drawings. That might be why it
didn’t match the deck hardware.
Since Peter decided to keep it going for
the time being, he adopted a modified
version of the temporary sheeting
arrangement we had fixed up last time
with blocks and line.
While having the standing rigging
replaced, he took the opportunity to have
the forestay shortened to reduce the rake.
At the same time, he raised the furling
drum by 4in (10cm), helping the
headsail’s leech to clear the spreaders
and the foot of the sail to flop over the
pulpit. As a bonus, the higher clew
created a better sheeting angle (in the
vertical plane) with the new barber-hauler
arrangement.

The furling drum was relatively low...

... and the headsail sheet led directly to a

fixed block, which was too far inboard with

an overlapping headsail like this and also

too far aft in relation to the clew

The result was excessive twist and a sail

that lost much of its power

The original

A temporary solution

As it is now

Our makeshift solution with a couple of
blocks and some line...

The furling drum is now 4in (10cm) higher

...which greatly improved the set of the sail

With the raised tack leading to a higher

clew, the barber-hauler can be taken

directly to the base of the stanchion

Now the sheeting angle is as good as

we’re likely to achieve with this sail. The

barber-hauler can be adjusted for

fine-tuning upwind or down