Martin Baxter wrote:
I was finally out again in my new used boat, (arthritis finally subsided
enough to use my right hand), wind was light to less than zero!

My sympathy on the arthritis. It can be difficult to cope.


The boat came with a bag containing a sail marked "Genaker", so I took
the sail out, it seemed to made out of about 1/4 oz cloth, radial on the
top, parallel panels on the bottom, upper corner marked "Head", one
lower corner marked "Clew", other marked "Tack". The tack corner has
about 30 ft of 1/4" nylon cord spliced to it and a two foot length of of
1/2" nylon tape with a snap shackle leading from the same cringle.

That's the tack pennant, used to control the height of the tack from the
stem head; nylon is not a good choice though. This line can take a great
strain and you don't want it to stretch (unless you enjoy constantly
adjusting it).


I have never used such a sail, I would deeply appreciate it if some kind
soul could tell me the ins and outs of flying such a sail.

I attached the "tack" to my stem fitting with the nylon pendant(?) and
used a piece of 1/4" dacron as a sheet from the clew, the thing seemed
to fly OK, but the wind was so light and fluky that it was somewhat
difficult to tell if I was doing this the right way.

If it was pulling, you're doing it right

I think the snap shackle on the tack is supposed to go to the forestay.

The best point of sail to start out with such critters is with the wind
about fifteen degrees aft of abeam. This will make it easier to set
because the wind will blow it clear of the rig, and will make it easy to
fill when the sheet is trimmed. Ideally, work it to keep a curl on the
luff just like a spinnaker... that can be work though. If the wind is
fairly steady, you can cleat the sheet & work the curl with the helm.

Adjust the tack pennant so that there is a good bit of round projecting
forward of the forestay, if the wind is light & the sail doesn't want to
rise, take a higher reach and keep the tack pennant tighter. If you want
to go further off the wind, ease the tack pennant to get more round and
let the sail float around to windward a bit.

A common temptation is to pull the sheet and tack really tight and try
to point too high with it. You might get the thing pulling well with the
wind somewhat forward of the beam but don't get too happy with it... the
sail can be overtrimmed & kept looking nice & full when it is dragging
the boat straight sideways.

Hope you get a chance to try again soon.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King