uneven harness lines

windoggi · Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 2743

After tuning my lines in the water, I discover that after sailing that they are different by maybe one and a half to two inches on the boom. I am ambidextrous and a bit odd but it seems strange that there would be that big of a difference. Class?

PS...this applies to just this sail. It's equal on my other regular.

cgoudie1 · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:19 pm Post subject: Re: uneven harness lines

It's certainly within the realm of possibility, that the sail drafts farther back
on one side than on the other. I'd pull the battens, and have a look for
stress fracture on one side of the batten. Or maybe the boom you rig
only that sail on, has a bent arm on one side, or the extension collar on one
side is drilled slightly longer than the other side, or one boom arm is
degraded and flexes more on one side.

It could also be wind/water conditions at your specific venue, but I
guess you ruled that out with your other sail, right?

-Craig

hilton08 · Joined: 02 Apr 2000 Posts: 506

many sails do have all of the batten pockets sewn on the same side of the sail, so the shape will vary slightly on the opposite tack.

are your other sails the same brand and model?

are you adjusting the harness lines so that you can sail with no hands on the boom on both tacks (balanced) or just to what feels comfortable?

have you tried setting the lines on both sides of the boom to the same average position?

konajoe · Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 517

Are you just doing back and forth sailing? I find that I want the harness lines farther back when sailing upwind, and farther forward when sailing downwind. Maybe that particular sail/board combo makes you scream upwind, so that when you turnaround, your reference land mark that you sail back to is a broad reach.

So, are your harness lines on the side you leave your launching point farther back than your 'return to shore' side?

ramps · Joined: 07 May 2000 Posts: 94

Mebbe where you sail the current is not directly opposed to the wind? I have noticed that sometimes I have different harness line positions on each side of the boom depending on sailing site, conditions, etc. But I am also getting to be a decrepit old fart with all kinds of bodily imbalances (knee, shoulder, back).

windoggi · Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 2743

I can sail no hands both reaches and my gear is sound...I think the old fart angle applies the most. I'll try to even them up again and report back. You'd think after 30 plus years I'd have it worked out.

konajoe · Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 517

But if you had body imbalances, or if you were seeing the effect of current, you would notice it on all of your sails. Which side has the lines farther forward? Is that inbound or outbound?

shreddbob · Joined: 31 Mar 1987 Posts: 361 Location: Hawaii

This asymmetry happens with just about all my sails, with my starboard tack lines always more aft. This situation does not change with in/out (for port launching versus starboard launching beaches) either.

I wonder if it has to do with how the battens are curved when the sail is rigged and rolled and stored. I rig, unrig, roll my sails from the starboard tack point of view, with the battens "popped" downward.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

All my harness lines on all my booms and all my sails, when balanced perfectly, are 2"-3" farther forward on the same side. I forget which side is which, but have quit worrying about it. Setting them the same means one side is just wrong for me, and I can't find a habit which favors that, so I just accept it.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

I have yet to find a sail that is perfectly symetrical from one side to the other.
Obviously, the wind and water state isn't, and neither are we.