Outhaul for loose foot main on a CD25D

[ricks]

I recently ordered a new main for my 25D and decided to go with a loose foot. I have never had a proper outhaul on the boom, and so certainly do not have anything adequate to deal with a loose foot.

What are others doing in this case? It would seem that there will be a tremendous amount of stress on the clew/outhaul. What size hardware would be appropriate? What sort of purchase would I need?

Any information, recommendations and better yet, pictures, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond.

Regards,

Rick

[rtbates]

All I use is a small block attached at the clew. A line runs from the boom end through the block and back to a cleat. Unless you need to adjust the tension under load it works fine.

[barfwinkle]

There are several people on the board that have moved to loose footed mains. Do a search in the archives and see if you can find any information on outhauls.

If Larry Demers (sp) is lurking about, he can help you as well.

Good Luck and Fair winds

[Bruce Barber]

I changed to a loose-footed main late last year, and over the winter modified the outhaul, mainly to make it more accessible on any point of sail. I ran it internally, with a Harken sheave #106 on top at the boom end, and another on the bottom about 3 feet from the gooseneck. This was not a weekend job, as it involved some rather tedious metal cutting and shaping at both locations as well as changing a myriad of screw fasteners to short machine screws so the line won't be chafed to bits (I even contemplated running it through a plastic tube inside the boom, but decided to file that away as Plan 2.) After the working end exits, it's led aft about a foot to a clam cleat, Ronstan's RF5106, which has an integral fairlead. I have the outhaul rigged initially with a double block at the end fitting and another (with a becket) at the clew, for a 5:1 purchase, which I'm sure is overkill, but those are the blocks I had on hand. By changing (or eliminating) blocks the purchase could be adjusted from 1:1 to 5:1. I'll fine-tune it on the water. The line now is 5/16 but I may settle on 1/4-inch, with a big knot on the end so it's easy to grab.

[Mike Wainfeld]

[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... d35299.jpg[/img]
This is the outhaul on my Typhoon. I don't know if it's enough advantage for the larger CD25, but it is more than just a line from the clew to a simple block at the boom end. Having a loose footed main allows you to control the draft, so you should have an outhaul that you can adjust on the fly. That is a double block with a becket with the line going from the becket, thru the clew, and back to the block.

[drysuit2]

I had a loose footed main last season. I bought a new set of sails and that seems to be the fashion. I didn’t like all that load on the clew of my boom. I don’t care how many blocks I added, I always felt uneasy about the compression load on my 20+ year old boom. Bottom line… I had my sailmaker install slugs on the foot of the sail this winter. I may lose some trim [the loose footed main definitely was a nice shape] but I figure it will be less stressful on my boat and me. Easier to flake the sail on the boom as well.

[Dean Abramson]

That is a very interesting point. I never thought about that.

I also have just bought new sails and, as is the fashion, the main is loose-footed. As relates to sail shape, it is hard to argue with the logic.

My gut instinct is that since most modern boats have loose-footed mains, and since Cape Dorys are way over-built in comparison to most current boats, it is not a worry.

But I would be very interested in hearing any other comments regarding this loading issue.

Dean

[mahalocd36]

That is a very interesting point. I never thought about that.

I also have just bought new sails and, as is the fashion, the main is loose-footed. As relates to sail shape, it is hard to argue with the logic.

My gut instinct is that since most modern boats have loose-footed mains, and since Cape Dorys are way over-built in comparison to most current boats, it is not a worry.

But I would be very interested in hearing any other comments regarding this loading issue.

Dean

Dean, this was discussed on the board a while ago when Bob Emmons' boom broke. I think you can find it in the archives.
Also he posted what he did to reinforce his boom.

We just got our new sails for Mahalo. We stuck with the slugs at the foot, and our sailmaker agreed. I'm guessing we still will notice better performance, handling, etc just because it's a new sail, versus a baggy old one.