We’ve had our 26U for less than a year and I’m still learning the nuances of sail trim with a wishbone rig. Sailing yesterday across the Chesapeake Bay in 12 to 15 knots of wind on a close reach the sail had noticeable wrinkles running up the sail parallel to the leach. They started at the clew and ran up the sail to about the lower full batten and were the width of the partial battens. The topping lift was loose. I played with the choker, tightening and loosening to no noticeable effect. Thoughts? Thanks, Ed
Two photos showing the wrinkles along the leach that I inquired about. Top pic we are on a run in about 10 kts of wind. Bottom picture close reach with 8 kts of wind.
As for the age of the sail , I expect that it’s getting a little long in the tooth. The boat was delivered new to a buyer in CA then sold to another Californian before going to Washington state and back across country to New England and then down to the Chesapeake where we bought it.
Can’t tell for sure, but it looks from the pictures like your two reefing lines might be a bit tight. You might check if it’s possible to give them a bit more slack and see if that helps.
Second reef definitely looks tight. The sail is too full, more choker. The sail shouldn’t be touching the back of the boom. When the sail is eased somewhat the geometry of the rig flattens the sail and yours looks a little better when off the wind a little. Definitely try more batten tension. The sail looks puckered around the battens. Possibly the battens were overly tight at some point and the sail is stretched? They’d have to be darn tight for a long time for that to happen.
Just to be clear, in lighter air it would be okay for the sail to be touching the length of the leeward boom, but bagging over it is probably excessive. At 12-15 kts, you’d want the sail at most touching the first 2-3 feet of the leeward boom.
I’d try easing the reefing lines before worrying about the battens.
Your topping lift looks taut. It should be completely loose when sailing. The weight of the boom to keeps the sail tight.
Your sail is bagging against the boom. Haul in the choker until the sail just touches the boom.
Will O’Hara
La Balena
Nonsuch 30 Ultra
Charles-Garbarino
(CHARLES GARBARINO As You Wish, N30U Sodus, NY)
12
The first thing I notice is the choker needs to be tightened. The sail should barely touch the boom. In this case it is folding around it. That might neaten up the luff.
Having seen the range of advice you’re getting, I think it might be helpful to go into a few more details.
After the sail’s raised, the reefing lines and topping lift should ideally be slack. Not floppy enough to get tangled, but enough to not pull on or lift the sail. The weight of the boom should ideally be supported entirely by the sail.
Recommendations dating back to the original sail designer Ed Botterell are that the sail should be just touching the first 10-12 feet of the boom in light air, just touching the first 2-4 feet in moderate air, and completely off the boom in heavy air. After that point, if easing the main doesn’t do it, it’s time to reef.
Given that you’ve said you’ve already played with the choker to no effect, I’m guessing several things could be going on. First, I’m pretty convinced that tight reef lines are your main culprit. Next, there are two factors which could be interfering with your ability to pull the choker as far back as needed.
For one, it’s important to ensure when adjusting the choker that you first have slack in both the mainsheet and topping lift. A tight mainsheet will limit choker movement by preventing further backward movement. A tight topping lift will cause the mast to bend backward rather than the sail pulling tighter. That will actually make the sail baggier.
The other possibility is that your boom is stopped by the mast before the sail’s pulled tight enough. This can happen if the sail is horribly stretched – but I’d expect UV to have killed it long before that could happen. Alternatively, if the sail’s lashed rather than shackled, the lashing may be too long. The sweet spot for a lashing is enough to keep the mainsheet block on the boom away from the helmsperson’s head, but not so much that the boom can reach the mast.
Anyway, that’s my $0.015 (two cents adjusted for quality of the advice).
In the lower photo where you can see the topping lift we were on a run in relatively light air , 10 kts, hence the slight tension as well as the choker being fairly loose in order to have a relatively full sail. Are you saying that when on a run the choker should be tighter and the topping lift loose? The upper photo we are on a close reach in 6-8 kts hence my thinking was that I needed a fuller sail but if I’m understanding y’all correctly the choker should be tighter even in these circumstances. As for the reef lines we had a reef in earlier in the day and were loose but the lines had not worked their way through the reef cringles. I’m going to give your suggestions a try but it might be a while. July and August on the Chesapeake is not generally great for sailing but we might get lucky and have good weather for a few day sails. I’ll keep experimenting. I’ll eventually get the hang of this.
I just reread everyone’s suggestions in a futile attempt for them to stick in my brain. I’m still learning how to trim this rig. Thanks to your advice I’ll get there a little quicker.
It’s a bit of effort to learn to sail them really well – but it’s even harder to sail them really badly.
More material on the www.Nonsuch.org website, in case you’re not already on overload:
On the MEMBERS tab, click MANUALS, then look for the New Nonsuch Owners Quick Guide.
Also on the MEMBERS tab, click SAILING A NONSUCH - GUIDANCE
On the INA INFORMATION tab, click NONSUCH MARKETING VIDEOS (to go back to the days of perms, upturned collars, and aviator glasses and see sailing examples included in the original sales videos)
Thanks Bob. I’ve read Sailing a Nonsuch several times but this is a good time to revisit now that I’ve got some miles in after our latest trip. We’re having lots of fun with Puffin.
I really appreciate this conversation, and I can never get enough advice from seasoned veterans on how to navigate Nonshuch. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I’m still learning how to trim this rig. Thanks to your advice I’ll get there a little quicker.