Spritsail Tuning Notes and Brailing Line

17 Jul 20:

Air Temp 79 F, Dewpoint 76 F, Wind NE 9 knots gusting 10.

Took ST. JACQUES out in a little more wind to play with the sprit rig, Skipper could get her to point pretty high for a sprit, head where she wanted but at a slow pace. We fell off a bit and moved ballast aft, ST. JACQUES is happiest on a broad reach or run, which is what we envisioned when we designed her, to row out a bit against the wind and/or tide, then time it so we could ride the tide and wind back to the beach.

The brail line doesn't run as free as I like through the block at the top of the mast, which is a bronze Wilcox and Crittenden block from a Sunfish, so we are going to swap that block with something smaller. We also are going to tighten up the bridle a bit so it doesn't interfere with raising the tiller and that will give us a better sheeting angle.

Video: https://youtu.be/YdBo0A7BoGc



Bridle off of belaying pin on quarter knee.

We run the sheet around the pin at times to adjust the sheeting angle, close hauled.

The sprit is the spar that goes to the peak of the sail.

The snotter is the line that controls the setting of the sprit spar from the bottom pin. On some boats the snotter is fixed length. We like to be able to lower our sprit from down low in the boat, should too much breeze come up.

Video: https://youtu.be/ovPwWkWMRY0

Log of ST. JACQUES.

St. Jacques Log Sail and Oar Plus Tiller Repair

21 Aug 17:

Took St. Jacques out for a short sail in light winds, worked on the transition from shore to sea. Sail was ready but First Mate forgot to drop the centerboard about halfway, so we went a bit sideways in the light breeze until the dock helped him gain his bearings. Once untangled from the bow line and mainsheet, we poled and paddled a few feet to gain sea room then crawled off the beach under sail. Worked our way up towards the river looking for dolphin, ended up ghosting a bit and rowed for a while. 7 1/2 foot oars for the forward station may be a few inches too long, but it is too early to tell with the limited rowing experience of the crew. St. Jacques was very easy to handle and likes to sail just above a beam reach. Wind died again and temp index started creeping towards 100F, so the oars brought us home. Just prior to the shore, the tiller snapped at the foot and the sail got brailed for the last few feet. Time to watch the eclipse now.

The tiller snapped where I had cut the shoulder too deep, which created a weak point. Kind of like notching a tree to fell it.

Repaired the broken tiller with Jamestown Distributors TotalBoat THIXO (thickened epoxy) and a wrap of 4 oz fiberglass cloth.

Wrapped the fiberglass and epoxy with saran wrap to help smooth the surface and hold the pieces together.

St. Jacques waiting for the next adventure.

Rowed 1 mile/Total 2 miles

Log of St. Jacques

St Jacques Log 07 May 17 Sprit Sail Kit from Sailrite

07 May 17:

We got our tanbark spritsail kit from Sailrite, rolled out the panels, (Edit: Now is a good time to sew on reef point reinforcement patches, BEFORE panels go together), seamed them with double back tape and sewed the panel seams together on the Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1. Made a few adjustments to the machine first, lots of pressure foot tension is required.

Skipper knocked me over to get to the sail.

Here is everything that came with the kit, pluse we ordered #4 and #1 grommet sets.

The vertical panels for the spritsail come on a roll. Save the tube, you might use it later to roll up parts of the sail when sewing.

This is the double sided tape used to baste the panels together. It is awesome.

Here are the panels laid out, ready to baste. STOP. Now is the time to sew on the reef point reinforcement patches, that way you only one panel has to be manipulated through the machine vs the whole sail.

The instructions told us what stitch width and length we needed. The sail can also be sewn with a straight switch machine.

Sewed the first panel with the Sailrite LSZ-1 machine.

Skipper sewed her first sail panel!

Sail panels all sewn.

Skipper has been sewing for many years, and she has a Masters Degree in Costume design. So she knows her way around a sewing machine and it is a treat to watch her manipulate fabric.



Everything came out great, corner and reef point reinforcements next, then grommets.

08 Jun 17:

Sewed on some of the reinforcing patches for the tack, reef tack and peak of the sprit sail. They are 4 layers of different size material, smallest patch goes on first. We taped them all together then placed them on the sail on the marked locations.

The reef point patches are placed differently than the tack and clew patches. They also may need to be trimmed. So take a minute to review the instructions before sewing. We didn't but they still look nice and will work as needed.

Reinforcement patches were 4 layers thick and they are installed with the smallest patch on the bottom of the stack. We used a chalk pencil to mark their location on the top side of the biggest patch so we knew where to sew. On white fabric you may be able to see the layers through the fabric. If not use a pencil to mark where to sew.

More patches. This sail is four sided so there are extra corners and edges.

Reef patches need to be trimmed and placed lower than tack and clew patches.

Sewing a sail takes a lot of presser foot tension.

Here are the settings we used for stitch width and length.

Click here for the full build log.

St. Jacques Log 26 May 17 Sea Trials

26 May 17:

Launched St. Jacques for sea trials. Crew of 4. Her paddle and oar systems were checked, as well as trim, weight and balance. She floated on her waterline and moved with ease. Dry bilge. She also fit perfect on the Sunfish Dolly from Dynamic Dollies and Racks.

Now she is back to the boat works for finish coat of paint, rig for sprit sail and final outfitting.

Click here for the complete build log for our Penobscot 14 St. Jacques.