My boat is 30 odd years old and I've had it for 2 years. Missus and I are sailing it as it was rigged when we bought it.
Most sailboats I've seen have the headsail track on deck near the side of the cabin.
I have a furling headsail, perhaps 130%. The sail track however is on the toe rail which means the headsail sheets
are on the outside of the lifelines. There is a track and cars in the usual place but which one should I use?, and will
it make any difference to handling the boat?.

Hi Sam , use the inside track , this will allow you to set your head-sail when close hauled on the breeze ,properly. The toe rail track is sometimes used for the Kite brace .

There is also the issue of the fore and aft position of the block. The line of the sheet from the block needs to be optimised to keep the leech and the foot tensions correct. Generally that results in the sheet direction aiming for a point mid way up the luff.

Hello Sam. Is the standing rigging (holds up the mast) closer to the mast than the "track and cars in the usual place". If this track is in inside your standing rigging then you may not be able to use it with a 130% headsail as the head sail of this size may push against you stays. Post a picture if you could

I'll be on MB tomorrow afternoon from about 1.30 till 3.30. Come over and I'll have a look.

if you see MB i,m sure he will show you the way .

But if you dont see him ............ Just to be clear , when close hauled as long as you have a set up so you can get the sail as close to the outside of the shrouds [rig] as possible. And have your sail and sheet inside the lifelines . that is where your block should be . ........... So, your head-sail is between the rig and the lifelines.

OK guys I'm getting the picture....Crusoe, the track is definately on the outside of the shrouds, so that's not a problem.
Yara......got that, the sheet should be heading for a point halfway up the luff. I'll check that.
SandS....yes I'm not getting the headsail close enough in. I just hadn't figured out why. Thanks for that.
MB.... would love to come and see you today, but daughter and family have just got back from Canada so need to see them.
Thanks everybody for your response. It might have been a bit of a dummy question but I thought it was rigged that way
because it was supposed to be. Duh.

No such think as a Dumb Question. The dumb thing would be to not ask the question

Hi Sam,
i found the RYA book on Sail Trim very helpful
lots of diagrams
stuff on both standing and running rigging,and sail trimming in different scenarios
cheers

Thanks Scara....Of course now I've got my brain into gear I can see what the guys are saying and
I think SandS has hit the nail......the toe rail track is for a spinnaker, though why it was being used
for the headsail sheets.....well. So now I feel the need to closely inspect the deck track to see if there's
anything amiss.

Not saying it is the reason but one possible answer as to why is they were over powered and opening the gap up depowering the head sail

Twodogs, that's not a bad suggestion. My boat scoots along very nicely on just the headsail and
I haven't had both sails up in a decent blow, but I can imagine with both up it'll take off and fly
to Brisbane. So as you say, the set up could have been to depower the boat to make it more
comfortable.

Hi Sam , with the right size heady for the breeze and trimed up close hauled . You will point so much higher than you have been with that other set up .

You will think you are on a completely different yacht !!!!

Also , if you get caught out in heavy gusts with a tad too much head-sail . When you are close hauled you will be able to " feather" the yacht in the heavy gusts to stop being over powered . To do this, let her come up on the gusts and hold her just on the tack she will sit up and as the gust goes away you just bear away slightly to maintain boat speed .
then as the gust comes back repeat ........ your course will be slight S bends .

let us know how you go !!! your going to love your yacht even more now !!!!!!!

Select to expand quote

SandS said..


Hi Sam , with the right size heady for the breeze and trimed up close hauled . You will point so much higher than you have been with that other set up .

You will think you are on a completely different yacht !!!!

Also , if you get caught out in heavy gusts with a tad too much head-sail . When you are close hauled you will be able to " feather" the yacht in the heavy gusts to stop being over powered . To do this, let her come up on the gusts and hold her just on the tack she will sit up and as the gust goes away you just bear away slightly to maintain boat speed .
then as the gust comes back repeat ........ your course will be slight S bends .

let us know how you go !!! your going to love your yacht even more now !!!!!!!

Good advice. A well trimmed main and heady will give you a performance to bring a smile to the face and make it easier to feather the sails in the stronger gusts.

OK SandS and MB. I think now your'e getting into the finer details of this sailing business.
I know enough now to fully understand the dynamics of what you are saying......It's just
remembering to do it when it happens. I'm sorta kinda hoping I won't get caught in any
strong gusts Ha. Gotta love this sailing. What a way to stay alive at my age.

Hi Sam , what is the sail on the furler ATM ? think i remember you saying it was a 130 P/c { a #2} is that right ? is the yacht a mast head rig ? [ jib goes all the way up to the top ? ]

do you have any other head sails for the boat ? if so, what size are they ?

sorry for all the questions , but this info will help us to advise of the best set up for you .

Hi SandS....sorry about the late reply, I have been on the boat all day.
Yes I think it's 130% and the headsail goes to the top of the mast.
No I have no other headsail.
No problem with all the questions.....love talking to you.
I had a good look at the set up today and noticed that the end of the
deck track which I think is where the car would sit, and the car on the
toe rail track are only about three inches apart. and it looks to me
that the previous owner opted for this because with this sail there is
less interference with the stanchions and lifelines than with the deck track.
This conclusion is purely by eye of course....but, with the two cars so close together
and a better clearance of everything using the toe rail track, perhaps it's better leaving it it as is.
I will stand corrected on any of these points.....I will bow to experience.......promise!!!!

Hello Sam , as long as your, ...... sail and sheet are inside your lifeline / stanchions and out side your rig , you should be able to crank the heady on so it sits almost right on the spreaders . this is when you are sailing hard on the breeze close hauled.

as you come off the breeze [ wind on the side of boat ] ease the sails out roughly 1/2 way .

then a dead run downwind ease the main right out untill the sail is resting on the spreader lightly [ this is how cruisers get chafe sailing across oceans for days with that happening ]
the headsail will flog around ,unless you goose wing it out the other side with a pole .

[ this last point of sail is somthing that you need to practice with an experienced crew . As a gibe is on the cards and that when heads get taken off with the boom ]

Crikey SandS......you've raised a few points there. I really don't think I'll get into goose winging.
I know what it is but I've been advised against it, for the reason you raised......somebody losing
their head.
It will pay me to try the headsail on the deck track anyway to make sure that it does miss everything.
I did notice my sails have reinforcing patches where they are likely to touch the spreaders, so
someone has given it some thought.
Thanks for the advice Sands. It's all good.

cool bananas Sam , yes keep it simple for now while you are gaining experience .

try to practice your off the wind sailing in lighter breezes . so you can control to boom through he gibe . one way to do that is to sheet in the main before turning the rudder across to the other angle , then feed the main sheet out when tracking on the new course .

above all Sam keep on having FUN !!!!!!

ps.............

your # 2 heady should be ok up to around 15 / 17 kts wind speed 17 plus and you will probably need to put a few wraps on the furler and adjust the cars forward. a bit to get it set set nicely

25 knts and you will be furling a few more wraps and reefing the main .

Hi Sam

I wouldn't discount goose winging so quickly

It is a nice way to sail downwind without without the head sail collapsing and gives you the maximum exposed sail area especially if you have a big genoa

Regardless of what side the head sail is set on you always run the chance of a unexpected gybe when sailing down wind and you just need to make sure that you can steer a steady course and keep a eye on where the wind is coming from

Best thing to do is to make sure that everyone in the boat is aware of the risk of the boom coming across unexpectantly and keep their heads below the boom level and if someone is moving around on the boat be extra careful where you are steering

Regards Don

Oh and if you do gybe don't try to slow the boom with your hand. Learnt that the hard way!

Thanks guys. The boom on my boat is not particularly low but I'm 6ft 3" It's not me I'm
thinking of however but other people on board. I'm still concentrating on what I'm doing
instead of looking at where other folks are in relation to possible danger eg boom.
I guess as I get more experienced I'll become more relaxed and look around the cockpit
a bit more. But to get more experience I've got to get out there and do it.......I'll get there.

Hi Sam,
You mentioned you have a normal track and car as well as the toe rail block?
One handy thing to remember when close hauled if you use the inside tracks and you are trying to position the cars: keep an eye on the leach of your headsail.
If the car is too far forward, the leach of the headsail will curl in towards the centre of you're boat and create a lot of drag, robbing you of power.
Car too far back and the leach will be too open, spilling wind and robbing you of power.
A wee bit of curl is ok, but not too much!!!
Good luck!
SB

Thanks Shaggy.......I'm remembering that Yara said the sheet should be aiming for
a point about halfway up the luff. If that fulfils the leech aspect then that seems to
be the simplest way for me to go. Missus and I endeavour to sail every week in
Pittwater so we'll eventually gain the experience to look at the finer points of this
sailing business. I have to say that the encouragement we are getting from you
blokes is just great. Thank you all.
BTW Shags your Sonata looks like a great deal. Isn't it exactly what MB's looking for????