friend of mine has an industrial strength sewing machine for doing car upholstery. I was thinking of making a really strong bag to put the rudders in that would zip up. The bag would attach to the trampoline. I think it would be pretty solid, and would keep the rudder attaching hardware from rubbing a hole in the tramp if they were just bungied down there.

No room in the trunk when the baby and all his "gear" come along for a trip.

Let me ask you this though... It seems to me, the untrained eye, that this barber-hauler setup does pretty much the same thing as putting the tracks up on the front cross beam. Is this not the case?

Your untrained eye is semi-correct ...
The tracks act as a travler to move your jib in and out on the beam... but this only is good if your boat and jib was designed for that.

the barberhauler is an outhaul that pulls your jib out towards the outer limits of the beam/hull. HOWEVER this is desirable (mostly) downwind when you want to make a FULL (round) sail shape on your jib. If you sail by your tell-tales (as you should IMHO) you will see downwind your jib needs to be full and upwind flat... (generally speaking)

If you outhaul (with a barber hauler) when going upwind you will have a miss shaped jib (as mentioned above you will be pulling from to much of the leach and not enough foot of the sail).

I think (IMHO) you should install the bungie (higher than the turnbuckles) for $2, tape up the turnbuckles with electical tape $.50 (or rigging tape) and learn how to work with the jib (i used to have to shake my Hobie16 jib every now and again while sailing).

If you feel like you want more items to adjust and want to tinker with jib shape, then install a barber hauler.

It is not a huge advantage in either handling your jib/hangup problems because it is mainly for downwind sailing... and creates a little more work (and deck clutter) to cleat and uncleat when you tack....

if you do put your rudders in a bag/on your tramp... you may want to wrap them up individually because when your trailer jumps over potholes and other bumps they will bang against eachother they can scrape, scratch, bend, ding and just break off each other. Deep scratches can cause water to get in the rudder, swell, and split the rudders. So just be sure to secure them, and protect them and you should be fine!


OR you could put your baby in the bag on the tramp.. that should give you room in your car for the rudders (kidding)

But most of all. just have fun!

a baby bag....

BRILLIANT!!!

your thoughts intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

LOL, i don't have a sailing newsletter (although i do publish 2 health ones for work) but i do have LOTS of sailing pics you can see at http://www.metalfree.com/a/CAT

fair enough sir, you drive a hard bargain. If in the future a boy scout rings the doorbell selling subscriptions I will laugh in his face, tell him to come back when he's selling subscriptions to the andrewscott newsletter (or cookies), and slam the door in his face, open the door, apologize for slamming the door in his face, quickly close the door before being beaten by his parents, and prepare the house for a night defense against an angry mob of scouts and their weapons of mass egging.

ummmmm.... try the decaf!

advice to add to your newsletter.

So to be honest I'm still not totally clear on the difference between the tracks and the barber hauler. They still seem to be doing the same thing just rigged differently.

I've got a background in aviation so the physics and aerodynamics/ hydrodynamics of it all wouldn't be too far over my head.

Can you guys recommend any books on the subject? Something that talks about the science behind the sails, maybe about this "pocket" a few have mentioned, the relationships between the jib and the main....that kind of stuff.

Rick White's "CAT RACING: FOR THE 90S" is for sale in the Store here (link above)

This book covers all these topics.

Price $29.95

(PS this is Rick's website) <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

To summarize the difference for the barber hauler and the front beam travler (tracks):
The barber hauler is an OUThaul used for getting a rounder shape in your jib for down wind sailing. It does this by pulling the jib tack (where the sheets attach) out and forward to the beam.

The travler (track) that comes on a (very) few boats does not shape the sail (generally), it simply moves the jib in (closer to the mainsail) for upwind and out for downwind.

Hold your right hand fingers tips in place (with your other hand) and cup your hand and look at the shape.. it is rounder because the middle has moved out and the back of your hand (under your thumb) has moved in. Now keep your finger tips in place and simply slide the back of your hand to the right. It doesnt change the shape of your hand, just the angle.... this is the same as the travler on a beam... doesnt really change the shape, just the angle.



The fromt beam track is for boats with jibs designed (shorter foot) to be set (secured) at the beam... most cats have a jib cut that requires it to be further back on the boat to have the correct/desired shapes.

The Art and Science of Sails by Tom Whidden has more than you want to know.

This website has the basic trimming guide.

http://www.ukhalsey.com/LearningCenter/encyclopedia/encyclopedia5b.asp

Everybody has been telling you the right things, but in pieces.

Put two sets of telltales on your jib, one set high, one set low about 1/3 and 2/3s up. If your fore and aft position of the jib block is correct for upwind sailing, both sets of telltales will luff at the same time. Move the jib block forward a little and the sheet will pull more down than aft than before and tension the leech a little more than the foot. This will pull in the top of the sail more than the bottom and the top leeward telltale will show that the top of the sail is stalled (sheeted in too tight) relative to the bottom of the sail. On your boat moving the jib block all the way forward to the front crossbeam will be much worse. A boat with the jib block on the front crossbeam has a sail sized and cut such that the angle of the jib sheet is proper to that point. Yours is not.

Now turn a little downwind from the close hauled course we've been sailing and sheet out the jib a little. As soon as you sheet out a little, since there is more tension in the leech than the foot, the clew will rise and the top of the sail will be luffing relative to the bottom, so you will need to move the jib block forward if you want to keep perfect trim. As you sail a lower course the block will have to move forward and outboard to keep the entire sail from top to bottom trimmed correctly at the same time. For your best point of sail to go downwind, approximately a beam reach apparent wind, the sheet point is around the outer end of the crossbeam. So a barberhaul to effectively move your sheet point there is for sailing downwind.

John