Can anyone share a good way to make a pocket luff from thin film?
thx
First off, I noticed that some pocket luffs aren’t as tight as you might think. Is that true? can you get away with a pocket luff that’s 3cm wide? Making it tighter is difficult.
I have not tried to make a complete pocket luff from a film. I usually make small “straps” that wrap around a forestay, like a hank-on jib. For a solid luff pocket, I have used a stretchier material, like a rip stop nylon, with good success.
Creasing a film, and getting a straight crease, is tough. Then trying to fit it to a curved jib luff is even harder! For small sails, like a Victoria, or Footy, I would not try to make a luff pocket. IOM’s and other big boats… yes.
Hello!
I have made pocket luffs for both main and jib on my Victoria (:D). The jib incorporated a slight bias to allow a belly to develop.
The key ingredient is patience.:scared:
I found that by laying the tape (Scotch brand, about 12mm wide) carefully and then laying the free edge of the luff pocket on top of and to the edge of the tape, I was able then to create a consistently straight crease by simply smoothing from the tape to the luff edge. (I hope that makes sense!)
I’m sure the same would work using narrower(5-6mm?) tape as well.
3cm seems a bit big. Probably harmless, perhaps unsightly and heavy.
Anyway, hope this useful.
Cheers,
Andrew
Consider doing a search on theh XL-25 Class - a Dutch boat in the similar size of MicroMagic/RG-65/etc.
Was going to post a link, but it doesn’t work, so I will have to go look for a new (working) one.
The plans (available in English) identify a main sail with large mast luff pocket. The class also uses swing rigs in case there is an interest for anyone.
Thanks Rusty -
my saved link returned an error. Appreciate your stepping in with the timely info.
Dick