Jib Trim

Hey guys,

I took the Prindle 19 out on saturday, jib alone, because I didn't want to end up capsized. I noticed that I had the problem of the top of the jib luffing long before the bottom so I started thinking ok move the jib lead forward, but it was pretty much all the way, this is hard on the wind by the way. Is there something I'm missing, could it have been from having the jib blocks to far in or out?

thanks,
Pete

I'd start with the leads half way between the centerline of the boat and the most outboard they can go (inside edge of the hull?).

Most likely w/o the main in and sheeted, the forestay was sagging off and the jib won't hold proper trim b/c of the sag. Throw the main up and go!!

Sail it with only the main, not only the jib. How did you get it to go upwind with just the jib?

Many variables....


stock sails?
how old are the sails? Could they be blown out?
What type of wind?
is there a leach line in the jib (small adjustment line that runs down the lenght of the jib)?

As stated above, retry with the mains on and the jib in the middle settings.

What they said, use the main. When there's too much wind to handle the boat on your own, bite the bullet and stay on shore. I occasionally sail my P 19 singlehandedly, admittedly only in conditions where I feel comfortable and then use both the main and the jib, the boat just feels better to me that way. Perhaps a little less mast rake might cure this, but so far I haven't bothered to find out.

More rake... not less.... more rake will depower the mainsail...

i occasionally sail without the jib to depower the boat but it would take 30+ to drop the main... and that would be to get to the beach and out of the storm... When i do sail main only.... its like sailing a different boat.. it handles, responds, tacks (or lack of tacking) completely differently.

I stand corrected, but wouldn't less rake shift the center of effort forward to compensate for the loss of pressure from the jib?

i have no idea about the "center of effort" but i do know that raking back depowers the boat.

There are differences in rake's effect to different boats (as apposed to the sail) due to hull shapes (asymmetric hulls acheive a bit of extra lift with mast rake) but all boats (I think) will have less available sail area with rake.

Some wind reflects off the water and hits the sail at a slightly upward angle. With less sail area up there there is less power.

Wow, it almost sounds like I have a clue…

The reason why I only put the jib up was it is a lot easier to put up than the main and also I was having issues with the halyard getting tangled and me not getting the S hook to get in the loop so I wanted to test that out.
The boat sailed fine upwind with just the jib and decently "fast". The sails are Symth Dacron, they don't look bad but certainly aren't new. The fact that the main wasn't there to help with the mast bend could of certainly been the cause because I don't remember it doing this when I had both sails up. I just put new tell tales on it, 3 sets about 9-12" away from the luff.