Sails

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Author Beginner Question
Matt Nowicki
Austin, TX

Boat Name: Thala Breeze

Model/Year: Catalina 22/1976

Hull No.

Hailing Port:
03/27/2006 6:13 AM Pacific Time

About two years ago I bought a Catalina 22 and have been restoring it since that time. I'm just now ready to get it in the water and I have an EXTREMELY beginner question. The sail that came with the boat was about ruined so I bought a new Ullman sail from CD. My question: how do I mount it??!? I'm sure I could figure it out but I don't want to do something stupid to (a) potentially ruin it or (b) put myself or my passengers in harm's way.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Dick King
Melbourne, FL

Boat Name: Twilight Zone

Model/Year: Sport/2005

Hull No. 15546

Hailing Port: Melbourne, FL
03/27/2006 11:45 PM Pacific Time

Hi Matt - We need a little more information about the sail. I assume you are asking about a mainsail. Does it have a rope luff (the front of the sail) or does it have slides that fit inside the slot on the mast? Is it loose footed or does it have a bolt rope in the foot (the bottom of the sail), as well. Once we know what the configuration of the sail is, we can help you "mount the sail." The nautical term is "bend on the sail."
Dick King
Melbourne, FL

Boat Name: Twilight Zone

Model/Year: Sport/2005

Hull No. 15546

Hailing Port: Melbourne, FL
03/27/2006 11:53 PM Pacific Time

Hi Matt - Another thought just occured to me. You are in the heart of Region 8 of the Catalina 22 National Sailing Association, . There is a pretty large fleet in Austin. There are a bunch of C22 sailors that can help you get started with your reconditioned boat. Here is the contact information.

Fleet 69 , Austin , Texas
John Grzinich
16211 W. Dorman Dr.
Austin, TX 78717
Phone 512-244-9365
[email protected]
Matt Nowicki
Austin, TX

Boat Name: Thala Breeze

Model/Year: Catalina 22/1976

Hull No.

Hailing Port:
03/28/2006 6:05 PM Pacific Time

Dick, thanks for your help and suggestions! To answer your first questions, I am indeed talking about the mainsail. It actually has a rope luff but it also has grommets every 18 inches or so. Tied to each grommet is a plastic cylindrical piece that's vertically parallel to the edge of the sail that could easily slide into the mast. It kind of looks to me like the sail was designed to work either with the rope luff but also could use the plastic clips. I took some photos but I don't see a way to post them here so I placed them online here:

http://www.smartdealerproducts.com/images/Matt/sail1.jpg
http://www.smartdealerproducts.com/images/Matt/sail2.jpg
http://www.smartdealerproducts.com/images/Matt/sail3.jpg

You can see the clips I'm referring to in "sail1.jpg" and "sail2.jpg", while "sail3.jpg" shows the rope luff itself. As for the foot, it is loose footed indeed.

Thanks also for the tip on the local cat22 association -- I may very well seek their assistance in the future.
Bayard Gross
Greenwich, CT

Boat Name: Baby Blue

Model/Year: 1981

Hull No. 9911

Hailing Port: Greenwich, CT
03/31/2006 5:30 PM Pacific Time

Matt:

I have the full batten version of that Ullman sail that you got from CD.

So, in your first picture, you are holding a sail slug attached to the sail luff with some really great webbing straps.

In the second picture, you show the head and the top sail slug very nicely connected to the sail with a webbing strap.

The sail slugs go into the groove on the aft side of the mast. Pretty simple concept. However, more important, is understanding how those webbing straps work. The webbing straps will make the sail fall with alternating folds, assuming installed in proper orientation. These alternating folds ease folding the sail when finished sailing. Nevertheless, it may be a bit tricky to get the slugs mounted properly into the sail groove on the mast to have the sail fall with the proper alternating folds. Just try to let the slugs go into the groove as easily as possible without changing their “natural” orientation and all should work well. Yet you may need to do some experimenting. I really like this feature on my Ullman sail as I keep my boat at a mooring and therefore the sail on the boom.

I must admit I am a bit perplexed by the third picture. I am not certain whether it shows the foot or the bottom of the luff. If the bottom of the luff, do not be concerned the bolt rope lies outside the sail groove. It should. If that is the foot of the sail, then yo have a footed main, unlike my loose footed main. In that instance, the bolt rope goes into the groove on the boom. I think that mounting the foot of the sail first before putting the slugs into the mast may be better, but there are other opinions. If doing by yourself, tie a long line onto the clew, run the line down to a block at the end of the boom and then back down to the goose neck where you are putting in the sail. As you feed the bolt rope into the boom groove, pull on the line to pull the sail back along the boom.

You can see pictures of my loose footed Ullman on my boat at:

http://hometown.aol.com/gross991/Catalina22Outhaul.html

http://hometown.aol.com/gross991/Catalina22tackreefingline.html

http://hometown.aol.com/gross991/Catalina22clewreefingline.html

These all have more information than you need right now, but it should provide some clarification for you.

Good luck.
Matt Nowicki
Austin, TX

Boat Name: Thala Breeze

Model/Year: Catalina 22/1976

Hull No.

Hailing Port:
04/01/2006 8:51 PM Pacific Time

Bayard, thank you so much! I just printed off those three pages from your site as a reference for when I hoist the sails. I really appreciate it!
 
 
Sails
Catalina Direct Discussion Topics / Catalina 22 Discussion Area / Sails / Beginner Question