File - Canadian Wayfarer Association

When going to windward in heavy air, the jib can be kept sheeted to a typical position for
medium air (perhaps slightly eased). Then the boat is kept flat by luffing the sails as much as
necessary. Ignore the tell-tales and just pinch up enough to keep the boat flat. This combined
with hiking, flattening the main sail, easing the traveler, and perhaps slightly raising the
centreboard provides good speed to windward. The real key is to keep the boat flat.
1.4.4 Genua sail setting
For the genoa, there are two basic aims:
1 to have a sail with an appropriately rounded entry for the conditions, which leads into a
fair (even) curve ending with an unhooked leech. The tighter your jib halyard, the flatter
your entry will be. There is a trade-off here: as the entry gets rounder, your steering
groove becomes wider but you will point lower. Therefore it makes sense to sail with the
flattest possible entry that will still let you stay in your steering groove with relative
ease. The test here is that you tighten your jib halyard until both the windward and
leeward tickers begin to indicate turbulence almost simultaneously as you sail closehauled.
At that point your groove is too narrow and you must loosen the jib halyard
slightly. Overtightening the halyard has the same effect on the genoa as overbending the
mast has on the main - the entry gets too flat! If in doubt, let it (the halyard) out!
2 to have a sail which sets at a more or less even angle to the wind up and down the entire
sail. In difficult steering conditions, you will need to let the upper part twist off
somewhat to leeward as twist also widens your steering groove.
Lead Position:
in/out:
This position is not crucial. Pretty well anywhere on the forward seat is fine. Our track has lived
in the same basic spot for about 20 years: along the outside edge of the inside board of the
front seat (which puts it about 52 cm (20½”) from the centreboard box at its aft end)
We have installed a second parallel track along the outside board but use this rarely and to no
great discernible effect - in survival conditions + waves.
fore/aft
A good starting position for your lead is where the extension of a straight line from the midpoint
of your jib luff through the middle of the clew cringle would meet your track. On “Shades”,
this position is about 9 cm (3½”) forward of the front edge of the centre thwart.
Your jib can, in fact, be made to have an appropriate vertical set (twist or lack thereof) from
numerous lead positions. Since increased tension on your sheet while sailing close-hauled brings
in the upper leech about five times as much as the lower leech, it is merely a matter of finding
the right sheet tension for your lead position and wind strength. The easiest test for the right
sheet tension is to check your upper luff tickers against your lowers as Mike Mac Namara
suggests: If the uppers show luffing before the lowers, you can/should sheet in more, and vice
versa. If the tickers all start to show luff at the same time, then your sheet tension is perfect.
The further aft you set your lead, the tighter you will need to sheet in to get the right balance.
This in turn results in a flatter foot which is the same effect as tightening the main outhaul.
Tickers: We have three sets of 10 cm (4”) virgin wool luff tickers at quarter, half, and three
quarter height - just over 10 cm (4”) aft of the luff wire and away from as many seams as
possible to reduce snagging. Again, we use a sailmaker’s needle to thread each ticker through the
cloth. We keep them centred with an overhand knot (half a reef knot!) close to each side of the
cloth. We also have a leech ticker at about 3/4 height (but away from the spreaders!) that gives
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