File - Canadian Wayfarer Association

In a breeze, one particular problem facing Wayfarer sailors is genoa luff sag. Excessive jib luff
sag not only makes the front of the jib fuller to ruin pointing, but also hooks the leech to
congest the slot at the very moment when the main is also being eased out to keep the boat on
its feet. Obviously, this reduces the efficiency of the sails. To counteract the problem,
increased rig tension is needed via a tighter jib halliard. This is achieved either by adjustment
of a Highfield lever on the back of the mast or, better still, a “magic box” or multi-purchase
blocks on the centreboard case. The halliard should be tensioned to suit various conditions - just
enough tension to keep the leeward shroud from being slack while sailing closehauled. With the
correct amount of jib luff sag, the jib is opened to make the slot wide enough and to reduce the
amount of curve that the air has to make, flowing over the jib.
Once you have marked the fairlead track for the medium weather position, move the fairlead aft
until the windtuft at three quarters height collapses and then move the lead one inch or so
forward. This heavy weather position should also be marked. Never go behind this mark because
the collapsed windtuft shows that the sail is feathered and that the air flows equally past it on
both sides. It has no drive and simply acts as a flag. Without this drive, the boat cannot point so
well and falls away from the wind slightly. This is well worth remembering when considering
pointing ability, for it does not necessarily follow that poor pointing comes only from having the
sail too full at the front. It can also come from having the top of the jib (or main, for that
matter) feathered. Usually, jib luff sag means that this offending part is hidden away from the
helmsman’s sight behind the mainsail. If the top windtuft has feathered, pointing the boat
according to the bottom windtuft will slow the boat down. Nearby boats will be pointing about
the same but will be going faster, so the helmsman bears away to go the same speed, but then he
finds he is having to sail further.
This can perhaps be described as a ‘psychological non-pointing’. The solution is easy, involving
nothing more than moving the fairlead forward to bring the top of the jib into action. If this
doesn’t improve pointing, then the front of the jib may well be too full because of jib luff sag.
To avoid these problems, a few moments have to be spent before every race and up the beat to
check that:
• all the windtufts are working together
• the leeward shroud is not too slack.
In light airs, there is less pressure on the jib luff and very little luff sag. Thus the sail will be
flatter than would be ideal, especially if normal sheeting is used. The sail has to be eased on the
sheets to give it some ‘life’. Unfortunately this will open the leech too much if the normal middle
breeze sheeting position is used. In order to be able to ease the sail to put in that extra
fullness, the fairlead must be moved forward almost to the point where the bottom windtuft
collapses. When easing the sheet to give increased fullness, you should slacken the jib halliard a
little as well. This gives extra luff sag which helps to increase the fullness. Once the light
weather lead position has been established, it too should be marked.
It will be seen therefore, that boats point best in the middle winds when the sail is at its most
efficient. They point progressively worse as the wind gets up or dies away. Although the careful
marking of the light, medium and heavy weather fairlead positions can help, the sailors
moving the lead forward, we get the required leech tension sooner and end up with a fuller foot
[parallel to eased outhaul on main], and by moving the lead aft, we get to the required leech
tension later and end up with a flatter foot. For what it’s worth, we have not moved our genoa
leads from their standard position for years!
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