Catenary, sheet points, barber. How to best adjust them to go faster

Here are three “pills” to surf faster and better: how? Adjusting and optimizing your sails. We will deal with catenary, sheet point and barber.

WHAT IS CATENARY AND HOW TO ADJUST IT

It is the curvature that the forestay undergoes when subjected to the stresses of the sail. In geometry, the catenary is really a curved line between two fixed points. The curvature of the forestay depends on halyard tension, backstay tension and, for small and medium-sized boats, mainsheet adjustment. Finally, its shape is influenced by the centering and adjustment of the shaft.

If the catenary is substantial, the boat tends to heel, resulting in increased heel and reduced speed. In general, with little wind, the presence of catenary makes the jib more powerful. In high pressures, however, its effect must be reduced by caulking the halyard and backstay.

Cocking it or letting it go changes the tension of the forestay, creating sometimes macroscopic effects on the shape of the sail. By releasing the backstay, the tension on the forestay is loosened, in turn creating the so-called catenary which, by giving more overall depth to the genoa, makes the headsail more powerful and the boat faster in light winds. In contrast, by caulking the backstay, the tension of the forestay increases significantly (obviously in proportion to how much it is pulled), the catenary tends to disappear, and the genoa is leaner and less powerful. Therefore more suitable for sustained wind conditions.

HOW TO ADJUST THE SHEET POINT WITH LITTLE WIND AND A LOT OF WIND

The sheet point adjustment also allows us to change the profile of our headsail. Its positioning is as essential for sailing faster in little wind as it is for sailing safer in much wind. The position of the sheet point carriage determines more or less genoa power with the change in the air channel opening between the two sails.

For example, when in upwind and less-than-sustained wind conditions you sail very lurching and feel the boat very heavy on the rudder, it means that the genoa is not working in the best way. Adjusting the sheet point further forward even by a few centimeters can close the leech. Making the sail more powerful in the middle and lower part of the sail and significantly closing the channel between the genoa and the mainsail.

This type of adjustment gives the genoa, and thus the whole boat, more power, which, however, is well suited only to light wind conditions. Conversely, a point of sheet brought more toward the stern opens the leech a great deal and consequently also the channel between the genoa and the mainsail, making the headsail leaner and thus more suitable for high wind conditions. The jib thus depowered allows the boat to stay flatter on the water and glide through it faster.

USING BARBERS TO BETTER NAVIGATE

The barber hauler is a flying fairlead system that allows the angle of sheet pull on the sail to be changed so that the genoa can be opened or closed near the leech, moving it away from or closer to the center of the boat. Moving the jib sheet point externally causes the headsail to warp, reducing the boat’s heel.

The “barber” consists of two blocks, an opening one connected to the sheet and the other on the boat’s outer scallop, or an eyebolt on the deck as outward as possible, positioned roughly midway between the genoa clew and the sheet point carriage. The barber line is returned to the cockpit for easy adjustment. Cocking it and leaving the sheet will result in a more open leech. As a result, the sail becomes much thinner in both the middle and lower parts, resulting in less power under wind pressure. This reduces heeling and tension on the rudder.

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