Can a genoa be put on wrong??

[rodgerg]

I am a little confused, I have today had a call from a sailmakers I took my sail to in order to get it cleaned. He reported that my sail was showing signs of the sail being damaged as it appears the UV strip was furled inside. As the sail runs up one of two channels on the rig and the drum only furls one way I cannot understand how that can have happened. I have had some problems since my halyard parted in the summer and have asked that he remove about six inches from the top as the sail has stretched and I could not tension it correctly. I cannot get my head around his comments, I am a relative newcomer to sailing though so please be kind!!
Thanks

[adoyabn]

If your furler only rotates one way and you have this  major of size difference, I would double check to see if this is actually the right sail for your boat. Even dacron sails won't stretch 6 inches.

 I would ask your sailmaker for the I, J and Luff Length measuremnts.

Compare them to what is in your owner's manual or in the specifications section of the owner's website.
 

[sitara]

The furler can rotate in either direction depending on how it is rigged, ie the furling line can be wound either clockwise or anticlockwise around the drum. So it should be set up so the the UV strip is on the outside when furled. The UV strip on my Jeanneau supplied headsail is white and the sail makers put labels on the sail indication which side should be exposed to the sun. If you have more than one headsail with UV strips check that they are all on the same side of the sail.

Be cautious about shortening the headsail, if the luff of the sail is too short the halyard can wrap around the forestay when you start furling and then jam the system. This can also happen if the halyard is too loose. As adoyabn suggests double check that it is the right sail for the boat, also are there any knots in the new/repaired halyard that would cause it to jam in the sheave box at the top of the mast?

Hope this helps.

[pbunning]

I agree, the sail can be furled either way. I had a No 3 jib made for my last boat (SO34.2) and sailmaker made mistake of fitting UV strip on wrong side. To avoid any issue regarding my existing genoa, sailmaker had to fit additional UV strip - UV strip on both sides.

[electricmonk]

Being kind, have you been attempting to tension the fore-stay by cranking up the jib halyard?

just a thought.

[rodgerg]

No I havenot tried to tension the rig that way. Everything was working ok until I had the halyard break on me. When I renewed the halyard I found that If I pulled it too tight, I could not furl or unfurl the genoa at all. The sailmaker (very reputable) tells me that this particular sail can stretch up to 10 inches in its lifetime. It never furler particularly neatly and now do wonder if the fuling line has been wrapped wrong from the start. I have certainly never altered that.

[electricmonk]

fixing the direction of rotation is easy as described by others.

The tensioning is quite another matter.

It sounds like the halyard is wrapped around the fore-stay.

With the sail off you should be able to see that the jib halyard has a fair lead to the masthead - at least where it goes either round a block on the face of the mast or into a sheave at the mast head - it depends on if you have a fractional or masthead rig. BUT the lead must be clear and behind the fore-stay. Check it with binoculars - or go up the mast, your choice.

There should be/could be a rubber grommet on the fore-stay above the foil it has a cut-out (so its not exactly circular), the cut-out MUST face aft; I've found lots that face forward and more that are loose and rotate as the sail furls and the halyard wraps. IF its facing aft its probably tight on the fore-stay and OK. Its there to trap the halyard keeping it away from the fore-stay and prevent halyard wrap. On some fractional rigs they use a block on the face of the mast - it performs the same function.

Lastly with the sail down you can easily check that the top bearing is easy to turn, if its not easy to turn it will encourage halyard wrap.

Good luck

[adoyabn]

Nov 6, 2013 16:32:26 GMT rodgerg said:

No I havenot tried to tension the rig that way. Everything was working ok until I had the halyard break on me. When I renewed the halyard I found that If I pulled it too tight, I could not furl or unfurl the genoa at all. The sailmaker (very reputable) tells me that this particular sail can stretch up to 10 inches in its lifetime. It never furler particularly neatly and now do wonder if the fuling line has been wrapped wrong from the start. I have certainly never altered that.

Sails are normally designed not to stretch in order to maintain their aerodynamic shape. After 10 inches of stretch, you would have a bag instead of something that resembles an airfoil. 

[electricmonk]

Some figures for you consider, MYLAR the stuff they make racing from has a 1% maximum stretch

(ref: www.shoresails.co.uk/racing_sails.htm)

This material has a modulus that is around 1700 times LESS than a standard cruising sail (100 against 1800)

(ref: www.bainbridgeint.com/PDFdocuments/1%20All%20About%20Sailcloth.pdf)

Lets say the luff is 15mtrs i.e. 15000mm - 1% stretch would be 150mm or around 6".

so its safe to assume that for a lesser material greater stretch is not only possible but very probable.

bye the way IF you do stretch a Mylar sail 1% its next storage container is a skip.

[adoyabn]

Electricmonk,

I stand corrected on dacron stretch. If even a dacron sail streched to the point where it would no longer fit, it probably wouldn't be very efficient.