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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

Jib catching on stanchion lines

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hughbamford
Deckhand

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Australia
17 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/14/2012 : 00:41:11

Hi,

Out racing last week and when tacking we found the jib kept getting caught up on the stanchion lines (135% jib fully out)and the crew had to continuely go forward to skirt it inboard. Tried a pair of Ronstan wheels on the stanchion lines but they are too small for the lines.

Anyone else had any ideas on this?

Thanks,

Hugh

SonoRay II 250wk #1007

Edited by - on

Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 08/14/2012 : 03:43:58

slow your turn so that it can be sheeted inboard before loaded?

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5908 Posts

Response Posted - 08/14/2012 : 04:19:11

So far as I know, there is no solution, Hugh, other than to assign one of your crew to the duty of skirting the jib after every tack. I have been crewing on lots of boats on the Chesapeake Bay, including some of the hottest racers, and the good crews have someone assigned to skirt the jib, and the rest can't seem to remember it from one tack to the next. On my C25, I could often reach forward and skirt the jib without leaving the cockpit, but sometimes you just need someone to go forward and lift it over the stanchions. I have seen a failure to skirt the jib tear holes in two very expensive racing jibs, so it's really important to do it. Cruisers, with roller furlers and higher-cut jibs, don't have this problem. It's usually only a problem with a deck-sweeping racing jib. It's a consequence of having a racing jib that is cut to provide the maximum legal sail area. If you also have a racing mainsail, with a huge roach, you'll also find that the roach gets caught on the backstay when you tack, which is another nuisance, but it's the price you have to pay for having really fast sails. I crew on some big, expensive racers that require someone to ease the backstay adjuster and pluck the backstay like a guitar string to get the mainsail past the backstay, because it gets hung up when you tack in lighter winds.

But, cheer up! The fact that you're asking the question says you are probably trimming your jib well on the windward leg (unless you're overtrimming it), and, if your helmsmanship is as good as your sail trim, you're probably doing well on the windward legs.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 08/14/2012 : 10:25:20

I don't race, but I have a couple of thoughts based on our experience.

We have a 110 with a pretty high cut, and don't have this problem. When I had to replace my headsail, I knew that we do a lot of tacking in our relatively narrow river (~1 mile wide), so ease of tacking was paramount.

But we recently chartered a C36 with a 135 and noticed some similar problems to what you describe (even though it was not a deck-sweeper). One cause of the problem was the two big, bulky bowline knots that the owner had used to secure the two (separate) genoa sheets to the clew. I believe that a single (double-length) genoa sheet secured to the clew with a simple cow-hitch is better because the knot is more compact and lighter weight, and therefore has less tendency to get hung up on shrouds, lifelines, etc. You may also want to make sure your sheets are not oversized, since that makes the problem worse. I think that 3/8" is the recommended diameter for C250. You might do even better going down to 5/16" if your racing rules allow, and if your self-tailers can grip it OK.

I'm not sure this would help you situation, but it's worth a look.

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hughbamford
Deckhand

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Australia
17 Posts

Response Posted - 08/14/2012 : 16:49:22

Thanks for all the feedback, I tried to slow the tacks compared to usual to facilitate this issue, we sail short hand (wife and I) like the idea regarding the cow hitch and thinner line.

I'll play around with this.

Cheers,

Hugh

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.