Wraparound sail questions

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1

Posted by Barry Stellrecht (yak@…>)

We just purchased a F33 cat ketch with the original wrap-around sails
(or at least pretty old ones…if not the 1981 originals!) and
wishbone booms. The sails are more-or-less rigged, but I’ve got a few
questions about the rest of it:

  1. The downhaul isn’t rigged. (Does anybody untie it to push the tack
    up when stowing the sail?) My copy of the manual shows a line on the
    mast collar from 9’oclock through the tack and then to 3’oclock. Is
    this the right way to do it?

  2. My “headboard” is a wrap-around with a rope between the two ends
    completing the circle. There is a loop (doubled overhand knot) in the
    middle of it. Apparently I tie the hailyard onto this loop with a
    bowline. I’m not sure if the sail hoisted up as high as it should have
    like this or not. The F33 manual seems to show a different picture,
    perhaps with a bridle in the halyard or something? My halyards do not
    have any eyes or shackles in them.

  3. The reef lines are not rigged. Here is my best understanding from
    looking at the parts available and the manual:
    A. Tie to one side of wishbone.
    B. Route up through reef clew
    C. Route down to other side of wishbone and through turning block aft.
    D. Run through block at end of boom (above outhaul)
    E. Run (through the middle of the sail, I think) up to the reefed tack
    or downhaul point. I have NO IDEA what this point is, but I figure
    there is a block in here somehow…and maybe one of the three spares
    I’ve got will work.
    F. Run through turning block at mast collar
    G. Route it along the deck back to the cockpit…I’ve got a diagram
    and am not worried about this part.

  4. If I don’t have enough hardware to rig both main and mizzen reefs,
    I figure that since the main is bigger, it is the one to put a reef
    in. Is that right?

Thanks for any advice or opinions!

Barry

2

Posted by michel.capel (michel.capel@…>)

Barry,

Welcome to the club! I have some info for you between your
quuestions below.

— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “Barry Stellrecht”
<yak@…> wrote:

We just purchased a F33 cat ketch with the original wrap-around
sails
(or at least pretty old ones…if not the 1981 originals!) and
wishbone booms. The sails are more-or-less rigged, but I’ve got a
few
questions about the rest of it:

  1. The downhaul isn’t rigged. (Does anybody untie it to push the
    tack
    up when stowing the sail?) My copy of the manual shows a line on
    the
    mast collar from 9’oclock through the tack and then to 3’oclock.
    Is
    this the right way to do it?

Yes, that’s correct. In that way, the booms can be let out without
tightening the downhaul. If you put a snapshackle on the line and
attach that to the ring in the front of the sail, you can easily
stow your sail. On my F33, I later led the downhaul to the cockpit
to act as a luff tightener control. This is easier than using the
halyard to tighten the luff. But of course the halyard works also.

  1. My “headboard” is a wrap-around with a rope between the two ends
    completing the circle. There is a loop (doubled overhand knot) in
    the
    middle of it. Apparently I tie the hailyard onto this loop with a
    bowline. I’m not sure if the sail hoisted up as high as it should
    have
    like this or not. The F33 manual seems to show a different
    picture,
    perhaps with a bridle in the halyard or something? My halyards do
    not
    have any eyes or shackles in them.

Take the loop out of the line between the holes in the headboards
and make this line quite short to make sure your sail is all the way
up. I put a shackle on the end of my halyards in stead of the direct
link between halyard and the short line between the headboards. In
this way, you can use the halyard for other purposes too, such as
going aloft.

\

  1. The reef lines are not rigged. Here is my best understanding
    from
    looking at the parts available and the manual:
    A. Tie to one side of wishbone.
    B. Route up through reef clew
    C. Route down to other side of wishbone and through turning block
    aft.
    D. Run through block at end of boom (above outhaul)

So far so good…

E. Run (through the middle of the sail, I think) up to the reefed
tack
or downhaul point.

On my F33, I had a bridle of a 4"wide piece of strong cloth through
the holes in the sail at the front of the wisgbone. The forward reef
blocks attached to the aff side of this bridle, and from there, went
down to the mast base.

I have NO IDEA what this point is, but I figure

there is a block in here somehow…and maybe one of the three
spares
I’ve got will work.
F. Run through turning block at mast collar
G. Route it along the deck back to the cockpit…I’ve got a
diagram
and am not worried about this part.

  1. If I don’t have enough hardware to rig both main and mizzen
    reefs,
    I figure that since the main is bigger, it is the one to put a reef
    in. Is that right?

I would prefer a reef in the mizzen if I could have only one reef.
The boat becomes very cruel on the rudder if you put in a reef in
the main first. My reefing drill was this:

20 kts 1 reef in mizzen
25 kts 1 reef in each
30 kts 2 reefs in mizzen, 1 reef in main
35 kts 2 reefs in each
40 kts mizzen down, 2 reefs in main
45 kts same

I advice you to at least invest in first reefs in both sails.

Good luck and lots of fun with your new boat!
michel

\

Thanks for any advice or opinions!

Barry