I was just reading the July 2010 Sail mag article by Dave Gerr about appropriate sheeting angles. He does all the geometry and then calculates what the sheeting location should be for a jib and a 150% Genoa. I got curious about where his method would place the Genoa track and the sheeting point on an Ariel (see the picture below of 7 degree and 10 degree sheeting angles on an Ariel). Dave's article points out that a 150% is about the biggest sail that you can usually efficiently fly with the close hauled 7 degree sheeting angle: bigger sails have sheeting points that would be off the back of the boat!! Anyway, my surprise is that the sheeting point using his calculations for a 150 Genoa would put it almost to the back of the coaming board. Hummm. I usually sheet my 150 much closer to the standard winch position--- which happens to be about where the 10 degree sheeting angle would be. Not being on the boat right now, I can't get my head around how Dave's far aft point would actually work with respect to the shrouds, etc. Also, he builds the sail design (clew point) based on where the sheeting point is--- so that a line from the sheeting point perpendicular to the headsail luff would intersect the luff about 40% from the tack. Any comments from the racers on this article and what it would imply? What is right about it, and what might be wrong--- or full of caveats???
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