dinghy cruising: Sail trimming on a sprit boomed yawl

Joel has been taking a look at my videos and offered some much needed advice on how to do the sail trimming a little better. Two minor adjustments were suggested. The first I was thinking about. I'd already got the little cord with carabiner clip attached ....ready on the luff around the first reeling point. My aim was to attach it around the mast pulling the luff closer. Tightening the down haul further would help as well. This would eliminate the crease in the sail. Well creases actually. It was a good spot by Joel.

His second point has really made me think. I've never fully understood how sprit booms are supposed to work but my understanding is improving thanks to the patience and generous inputs of Joel and John.

Joel suggests......

"Raise the front of your boom higher up the mast.  If you have a look at your "Sailing to Salcombe" video, at 1:04 - 1:10, you can see your boom bobbing up and down with each puff of wind. You're looking at wasted energy.  Preventing the boom from moving up and down will divert that energy into moving the boat forward instead".

Apparently the foot of my sail does the same thing as a vang on the boom I.e. it holds the boom down.....but this necessitates the foot of the sail being really tight.

Joel went on to explain that the boom needs to be a higher position on the mast. In this way it will be harder for it to rotate. He suggested "The plans show the sprit boom crossing the mast right about where the first reef line is, but I'd try a bit higher than that.  It might take a bit of experimentation.  Too low and the boom can more easily bob up.  Too high and the boom might spoil the sail shape.  But there’s a spot in between that’s Just Right". 

I don't know whether Joel has ever taught but he should do. Simple, clear, concise explanation with an annotated photo......and I understood it immediately.
And so the learning curve continues.

Thanks Joel for taking the time to explain things so simply and clearly.