My sail maker wants to know

[San Juan Sailboats]

I am eagerly awaiting word on the loose footed mains vote. I have a mainsail on order and we are waiting for the decision.
Can anyjuan in the leadership group tell us when the decision will be announced?


Stephen

[LuAnn]

The Executive Committee is trying to get a consensus from all Fleet Captains by the end of March on this question. There will be a conference call meeting in early April and hopefully by then we will know how the majority of the membership wants to vote on the loose footed main.

[TomD]

I am a little less knowledgeable on this subject. Can someone explain what is being discussed and how it pertains to San Juan 21s?

THANKS!

[San Juan Sailboats]

The proposal before the Members is whether to allow Loose Footed Mains. Currently they are prohibited. If you don't race your boat in one design, none of this will matter to you.
A little history first. During a National event many years ago, a boat had a loose foot main with a huge roach hanging down below the boom. Loose footed mains were then prohibited.
There have been several proposals over the last 7 years to allow them back but have with controlling the amount of roach.
This year our Chief Measurer, Mike Chesser, formally proposed the allowance of loose footed mains and we are now voting on it.
You can read the proposal here http://sj21class.org/resources.html?section=rules

The Arguments for
Loose footed mains don't appear to have any speed advantage on High aspect ratio rigs. They do not cost any less than the Shelf main. And indeed any shelf main can be rigged to run loose.
What loose footed mains will do is to show the skipper the shape of the sail using the boom as a reference. For Single handed sailors, it's easier to work in light air because you don't need to move the bolt rope forward after loosening the outhaul.
Another advantage to loose footed mains is in the rain. You don't get the whole gallon of water from the shelf pouring over you every tack.
They will also get our venerable boats a little more up to date. Most all modern boats come with loose footed mains.

The Arguments against
Most of the arguments against are to keep the boats true to the one design. Several have said that if there is no difference, they why allow them? Others think that the mains they have would be obsolete. Other arguments have been along the lines of stress on the boom, Stress on the outhaul, etc.

[Windchaser]

Can we please focus on fixing the problems with our existing handbook PRIOR to make unnecessary changes to the sails? There are still conflicting drawings and descriptions for the class rudder. I know that the Chief Measurer has ruled that the written description has precedence, but unless you read the Harbor, you won;t know this.

[bluepearl]

Can we please focus on fixing the problems with our existing handbook PRIOR to make unnecessary changes to the sails? There are still conflicting drawings and descriptions for the class rudder. I know that the Chief Measurer has ruled that the written description has precedence, but unless you read the Harbor, you won;t know this.

Hi Windchaser, you will be happy to know that the class is in the process of recreating all of the drawings and updating the handbook as we speak. It will take some time to get the new electronic drawings finished and get them all approved, but it is in process. In the meantime the class should have the loose foot issue resolved soon. All of the active western fleets have voted on this issue and we are awaiting the results from the east.