One of my neighbours in the Creek has given me a headsail. It's as new but has
been unused for a decade. It has hanks which need to be replaced with a bolt rope,
and it needs a UV strip on the leach and foot.
The previous owner of my boat raced it and put on a 150% headsail. For day sailors
like me and Missus the boat is grossly overpowered.
The new headsail has a foot length of 4.2m which brings the clew a shade past the mast,
just right.
The luff measures 9.1m which is a half metre shorter than my current headsail.
I'm happy with the size of the new sail and prefer not to alter it. So when I attach it
to my furler is all I need to do is make a longer strap to attach the toe to the fixing point.
Or is it more complicated than that.???.
Much more complicated especially the angle of the halyard to the furler head which stops the halyard twisting around the furler foil which actually the most important thing.
The flip side is that by simply putting a strop on the bottom your sheeting position will be moved a long way aft.
Thanks for the reply Lydia. I've just thought of a good idea. If I attach the sail to the
spinnaker halyard I can haul it up to where the current sail sits and look at how it is.
If the head of the new sail is attached to the swivel the same as the current one how would
that be any different to how it is now.??
I understand the foot would be higher off the deck by half a metre and therefore the clew
would also be a little further back but I think it would work out OK.....wouldn't it.??.
Sam
there should properly be a guide on the mast below the halyard sheeve so the angle of the halyard pulls aft of the furler car.
This is so when furling under pressure the halyard does not just rap around the furler itself.
This is very important as I have fixed quite few broken furlers for people over the years because of this.
So check this first.
Properly, headsail that do not go to the top of the furler should have a luff strop on the head so the halyard angle is maintained.
Not having the head near to top make the halyard angle more shallow and more likely to get the halyard twisting around the furler.
So get the sailmaker to replace the luff tape and make a luff strop to solve the problem.
also then you will not the have the sheeting issues so much.
Sam,
easiest way to add a small piece of sail cloth to the head of the headsail so that the luff is the same length as your #1 .... or simply so the head goes to the halyard sheave.
The piece should be the same weight as the sail, maybe 100mm wide, complete with boltrope so it stays in the head foil or whatever arangement you have.
Any sailmaker will add the piece as required and cost you bugger all.
All our smaller headsails (#2, #3) have this arrangement, and sails came from sailmaker like that.
Easy peasy
Sam, you'r going to have to get a sail maker to add the bolt rope, uv strip etc so just ask him (or her 
) for their professional advice and follow it.
Thanks guys. I had my furler serviced a while ago, the rigger said there was too much
halyard exposed which would probably lead to the halyard wrapping around the foil. So he
made an extended strop to lift the swivel closer to the sheave but leave the sail head where
it was.
I intend to use the same strop on the new sail to achieve the same thing. The difference will
be in the height of the foot from the deck. This will mean making a longer strop for the toe of
sail so that the head stays in the same position as it is now.
Will this work.???.
I'd like to get this idea sorted before I spend any money.
And that is a very sound suggestion Uncle Bob.
