- jib problem leech hooked.jpg (70.5 KiB) Viewed 8794 times
We buy sails on good faith that they will do a good job of powering our boat in races against high quality skippers. It is all up to me how well my boat performs. Not always true. This shows what the jib on a boat can look like on both tacks if the material keeps its curl from when it was on the roll. It could be that the various panels of the jib will look like one image for some panels and the other image for the other panels. Not a good situation no matter if the whole jib is curled in the same direction or it is 50/50. In either case the boat will be at a disadvantage against boats with good proper sails.
As Wallace Ross points out - using my images - our boat will be at a disadvantage on starboard tack with the jib wanting to backwind the main and at a disadvantage on port tack with the boat not making good power with the "loose looking" jib leech not directing air along the lee side of the main.
The main can have a similar problem. Even more disappointing is when the main is "built" on one tack and the jib on the other. I think even more hopeless. You cannot even sheet the sails the same on both tacks if you know what I mean.
Just trying help people who have this problem and wonder why their boat is so slow. I looked through the book today in a yacht club library.
S Vernon