Trysail track mounting - port or starboard?

[memelet]

Is there a preferred side on which to mount the trysail track? (eg, starboard to help move towards "safe" quadrant).

-barry

[Ian McColgin]

If you have a track and switch system so the trisail can be kept bagged or boxed at the foot of the mast, then since most action on sails abaft a mast are controlled from the starboard side, the halyard should come down there but the sail, track below the switch, and all that should be to port. This gets the gear out of the way. It leads to a preference for hoisting on the starboard tack but the deed can be done the other way.

I personally remain unconvinced of the value of a trisail. It's so much smaller than a triple reefed sail that it's not going to help much more than bare poles. I rather like the Scandanavian notion of "winter sails" - generally battenless and at full about the size of your normal double reef. When you put three tucks in that, you're not really a lot bigger than a trisail, but you're dealing with a sail designed to move the boat rather than just heel her over. For what it's worth.

G'luck

[Ian McColgin]

Ahoy again,

Thinking more about the meaning of "safet" I see you could be thinking of being on the starboard tack which, if you happen to be on the west side of a northern hemisphere storm is not just the safe quadrent but also the correct tack for the job.

Trisails I've set really didn't care which side of exactly dead center back of the mast they were for whatever tack.

G'luck

[memelet]

Thanks Ian!

One of the reasons I asked this question was because since the trysail track will be mounted next to the tides marine track, its seems that the trysail will lay over the tides track a bit on one tack. (ie, No track switch -- two tracks).

So I guess second issue is how to prevent this. Maybe extend the webbing a bit and massively reinforce it for chafe? Or will it not matter that much? Or will the tides track make using the trysail a bad deal no matter what?

[Ian McColgin]

I don't see how it will make much difference laying across the track. Try just setting it up with the sliders spaced normally and see how it sets.

G'luck

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Very few people have actually set trys'ls in anger, and some, like Ian, prefer a heavily-reefed main. I'm a trys'l fan myself (tougher, usable if the main or its boom is damaged, not nearly as expensive as a main, lower C of E, etc.), but only for the rare installations that might actually work when you need the sail; I've heard plenty of stories of people struggling to get that sail up when the wind is 40+ and rising, and having a hell of a time. I can tell you that having the sail track on the same side of the mast as the halyard tail is a big plus. So is having a dedicated trys'l halyard, preferably pre-attached (very easy, it seems, to have the thing blown out of your hand when you're trying to attach it, even with a snapshackle, in a gale).
The other big obstacle is lazyjacks, which can foul the trys'l on the way up; rehearse and reconfigure as necessary to get these clear. With the type we prefer, it is easy to pull the lazyjacks forward in a large bight,and loop them under the bagged sail.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss