The P dimension for a N30 is 45ft. On my mast that’s also the distance from the tack to the upper black band. My sail has a luff lenghth of 43’ 6” and, when hoisted, its obvious that there is room for it to go higher. Pics that I’ve found of N30’s sailing with the full sail visible also show a hois…

I’m hoping someone who knows this topic can chip in, because I’ve got things I’m wondering about, too. I’ve noticed that no matter how hard I crank the halyard on my brand-new sail with my brand-new low-stretch halyard and my brand-new electric winch handle, I can still see scallops develop after a…

I don’t have an answer to Bobs question, but have a question about luff curves, which may be related to Bob’s question. This pic shows my current sail with the luff tightened using a rachet strap and a tape measure running from the tack to the head. Note there is additional material fwd of the strai…

My new sail ( fareastsails.com ) is 45’6” on the luff and comes to about 6” below the black line when tight. I had a Cunningham cringle installed but have never seen the need. Under full press, (see picture) I don’t get any scallops in the luff if I have raised it tight with my Milwaukee drill. Maybe…

[image] NS233_Bob_Neches: I’m hoping someone who knows this topic can chip in, because I’ve got things I’m wondering about, too. I’ve noticed that no matter how hard I crank the halyard on my brand-new sail with my brand-new low-stretch halyard and my brand-new electric winch handle, I can stil…

About the leach / topping lift issue…. My sail is 612 sq’. The Nonsuch literature says 30s are 540 sq’. I think that is the straight line triangle and the extra is my leach. It overlaps my topping lift a lot but as the TL is always slack it is a non issue.

I’m expert enough to confirm that the “official” Nonsuch sail area measurements are right triangles that don’t capture all of the sail area. The official P measurement is the vertical distance from head to tack, as shown in Martin’s photo. The official E measurement is the horizontal distance from…

Thanks for that Bob. It was hard to believe it was all roach even though my new sail has a lot more than my old one had.

It’s impressive how the actuals differ. The difference between official sail area and actual on yours is 13.3% according to my calculator. On my N26, the official sail area is 420 sq. ft., while my new sail comes in at 481 sq. ft., which works out to 14.5% larger. – Bob P.S. I’m not a cunningham…

I’m not an expert, but I think what’s happening here is mostly a geometry thing rather than a sign that the luff was actually cut with a curve. When you lay a mainsail flat on the floor, you’re forcing a three-dimensional shape to lie in two dimensions. Because the sail has draft built in from the …

I would not ask a sailmaker to make changes ( to what they propose ) unless I was absolutely sure I understood the impact. If you doubt your current sail is optimal, identify a boat that has a sail that performs the way you hope your new sail will perform and use it’s measurements as a basis for y…

N30 Full Hoist

Questions & Answers

Vela33 (Brian Godfrey - NS33 #77 - Vela - San Diego) October 8, 2025, 7:06pm 18

I don’t want to derail this thread, so I created a new one to discuss my potential new sail. It is here. Is it possible to move the previous two posts to that thread?

Topic		Replies	Views
Planning for new sail General sail	17	409	August 31, 2026
Is this set up right? Questions & Answers sail	20	376	June 26, 2026
Wrinkles along leach of sail General	18	178	June 29, 2026
Lashing clew to boom General	19	453	August 19, 2025
Has anyone purchased a new sail from Direct-sails.com? General sail	15	672	July 4, 2026

N30 Full Hoist

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