Neal,

I'm not sure you truly understand your main sail. That bolt rope on the
foot of a shelved main give NO SUPPORT! A shelved main is a free footed
main and anchored only at the TACK and the CLEW. That shelve is an
elastic material which is designed to let the full airflow shape of the
sail continue to the bottom of the sail. It is the assure that the air
doesn't form a vortex at the Boom. The material is meant to be loose
enough to let sail shape carry to the foot of the sail.

All those layers of of cloth mean didderly without the stitching to
prevent the shearing action that take place at the Clew corner. The slug
is a nice feature but a Clew Strap is something you should install. With
a free footed sail an awful lot of strain is put on the Boom slut.

Neal, my friend, you have a weak Clew on that sail.

Ole Thom
P/S Neal, stop kidding yourself that the shelve is working as a system
for STRENGTH. It isn't!!


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