Optimally the telltales both fly straight out, if one is spiralling rather than streaming it is indicating that the sail has incorrect air flow on that side. Telltales are in pairs one of each side of the sail. Telltales are thin, lightweight pieces of fabric or yarn that are used to properly trim (adjust) the sales for the best performance. Hydraulically pressed rings at the head, tack and clew Large patches with multiple layers of cloth near the corners for extra strength. Fig A shows a creasing from head to tack, caused by excess tension at the. They go into specially designed batten pockets in the sail. to put right by appropriately adjusting the throat, head, tack or clew. A reef point is a reinforced hole in the sail that you can thread a small length of line through and tie the sail down over the boom.īattens are long thin strips of usually fiberglass that are used to support the roach of a sail. You shorten a sail by tying it into a smaller shape. “Reefing” a sail means to shorten a sail. The roach is supported by battens because without a batten the roach would flap too much. There is an arc of extra material on the leech of a sail (most common on mainsails).

The aft edge (furthest from the wind) is called the leech. The leading edge of the sail (closest to the wind), also known as the forward edge is called the luff. (or in the case of a spinnaker between 2 clews – spinnakers to be explained later). The foot is between the clew and the tack. The lowest edge of a sail is called the foot. The clew is aft (at the “back end”) of the sail (furthest from the wind). the sheets become less and less effective for controlling the windward clew. Radial: A sail construction technique in which radial panels emanate from one, two, or all of the sails corners (also called the head, clew, and tack). The tack is attached to a fixed point on the boat close to the mast in the case of a mainsail, or a forestay in the case of a headsail. The tack of a square-rigged sail is a line attached to its lower corner. The head is attached to the halyard (the line – remember we have lines never ropes) which raises the sail.īelow the head we have the tack and the clew. Well, it’s a triangle so there are 3 points.

Tack and clew