FreedomYachts.org

The simplest way to see whether the battens are responsible for the odd shape is take them out and raise the sail without them.
Then see what shape the sail takes by itself, an overstretched leach will show itself. It will still fall, at least a bit, to leeward.

Up date to this "S" shape. I found the S shape diminished if not completely went away resulting in proper sail shape once I flattened the sail more than I would have with my previous Bermuda rigs. It seems the F32 doesn't like quite as much twist in the main as some other "conventional" rigs. Once I started to lessen the twist the sail shape improved, balance was a bit better (not that it had ever been poor) and of course I could fly full sail into the low 20's quite easily maintaining good speed, usually mid to upper 7's (knots/GPS no current). Although with the higher wind speeds flattening is not as efficient and the S shape starts to rear it's head again. I hope this helps someone.

John, could you clarify for me how you flatten the sail. More halyard tension? Outhaul? Cunningham? Vang?
Thanks
Dale

Hi Dale, of course the action to do so may vary depending on how boats are rigged and the angle of the boom in relation to the traveler. If the boom is within the range of the traveler I tighten the main sheet and make wind adjustments with the traveler. If the boom is further outside of the traveler's effective rang then I need to rely on the vang. Of course both of those just address the twist of the sail. To flatten it further, since I don't yet have a cunningham I need to increase the halyard tension to tighten the luff to move the draft forward, then in most cases (really all cases) you need to tighten the outhaul along with that. If the wind is above 18 knots or so depending on angle of attack I will usually be set in this flatter configuration. It is also the configuration needed to allow the boat to point as well as she can, at least with what I have tried so far, but I believe this to be true on these rigs after failing time and time again trying to sail her like a typical modern rig. When the wind is in the high teens and above I am able to achieve decent speed at 35 deg apparent. The higher the winds the better the performance of course. This is based on basically calm waters, if I am in a swell I need to be 40 deg or more to push through the waves.

By the way I fixed the odd mainsail shape - I bought new sails!

That is probably the preferred method. Where or who did you order from?

I had the same issue when I purchased my F30. Played with it for a full summer before giving in and purchasing new sails from Doyle. Also went to a loose footed main for more control. It has tapered battens. That’s solved it completely, I get excellent sail shape now.