England Ireland Find Havens
England Ireland Find Routes
Boat
Maintenance
Comfort
Operations
Safety
Other



Next Previous

Preventing the topping-lift from chafing the leach of the mainsail



Be the first
to comment

What is the issue?
When the mainsail is raised the topping lift should be relaxed, but with not so much slack so that the boom could fall upon the dodger. Whilst sailing, you generally don't want it under tension as it will put too much twist in the main. The problem with this is the loose line then flops about and tends to rub and chafe the mainsail. Over time chafing wears on the edge of the leach generally leading to a dirty frayed look.

Why address this?
Mainsails are very expensive and minimising any harm that will lead to a longer service life is highly desirable. Although the topping lift does not cause any particular wear when flopping around it is untidy and unkempt.

How to address this?
Whip in a section of heavy shock cord into the topping lift as shown. The shock cord then takes up the slack when the topping lift is relaxed keeping it taught enough so that it does not slap the sail.

Using shock-cord to keep the lazy topping-lift off the mainsail
Photo: Michael Harpur


Header photo with thanks to Yacht Rent.

With thanks to:
Michael Harpur, Yacht Obsession.
A photograph is worth a thousand words. We are always looking for bright sunny photographs that illustrate this experience. If you have some images that we could use please upload them here. All we need to know is how you would like to be credited for your work and a brief description of the image if it is not readily apparent. If you would like us to add a hyperlink from the image that goes back to your site please include the desired link and we will be delighted to that for you.



Add your review or comment:

Please log in to leave a review of this tip.

eOceanic makes no guarantee of the validity of this information, you must read our legal page. However, we ask you to help us increase accuracy. If you spot an inaccuracy or an omission on this page please contact us and we will be delighted to rectify it. Don't forget to help us by sharing your own experience.