Today, while sailing downwind in 16-18 kts, full main, sail way out there, clocking about 8 kts STW, I hit a wave from a boat. The mast flexed (boat slows down, mast tip does not, mast bends forward, requiring the luff of the sail to be a bit longer) and ripped the tack cringle/grommet out of the sail. Anyone else have a similar experience? I suggest we all keep the potential squirreled away for future reference.
I do a lot of sail/canvas work. Cannot do this repair - I don’t have the tools for setting a grommet the size needed. Off to One Sail tomorrow, hoping they can repair it pronto!
If it’s convenient to post pictures of the damage, and the repair, I’d find it very educational.
I’m curious about the age of your sail and how the tack grommet was secured and reinforced.
If (worst case interpretation) the 16-18 kts downwind was apparent, and the 8 kts speed through water was true speed unaffected by current, and you were running down a wave peak when you hit the wake, I guess the true wind could’ve been up to as much as 26+ kts when you hit the wake.
Given how much our masts bend, I can imagine that there’s the potential for a fair amount of whip if the forces acting on the boat suddenly change.
When you’re through with repairing the damage, I’d really appreciate hearing your takeaways about whether there’s anything that could be done differently. E.g., would you recommend beefing up sails/hardware, reefing earlier, sailing a different angle, just setting aside a kitty for surprises like this (my current guess about what I’d do), or what?
Lloyd, sorry to hear about the damage and hope you get it fixed pronto. Downwind I find it’s good to bag the sail a bit, loosen the choker. This would give some extra shock absorption as well as working the parachute.
Maybe … if the chocker is tight then the boom will require more effort to lift as the mast flexes forward. . Also having the sail out for a run the effort of the mast movement is not in line with the leech…and the wind pressure on the leech is greater.
How old is the sail?
I tend to have a loose choker down wind, not for much more of a reason than I don’t think a flat sail matters … but I defer to folks like John N to weigh in here.
Over the years I have used the choker as a adjust of last resort…
On Sunday, August 24, 2025 at 5:53:08 PM UTC-7 Julie & Lloyd on Rendezvous wrote: