I'm thinking about buying sails for my 12.
Please can someone help me and explain the rules for changing sails between boats.
Buying new sails is not a problem, talk to Tom Stewart at PnB directly for advice you may need to change your black bands etc if you change ratio hence talk to Tom or any of the other N12 sailmakers. If you are buying second hand again no real problem but you will need to change the number and the old sticky stuff can be a pain to get rid of. The 12 rules are all in the yearbook so joining the association will reveal all and they are fairly easy to understand. Hope that helps. Howard
Buying sails from another boat is only really a problem if the size of the jib as measured and marked on the job is very different from the maximum your boat is currently measured for. This should be marked on your boom and on your certificate. It is worth watching this as from a practical perspective it means you should not end up wanting to move the rig around too much. Assuming the sails were legal on the boat they came from they should not in combination be too big for a 12!
From a 'legal' point of view as long as this is close it is usually possible if necessary to move the black bands on your spars and change your max jib size a little. Obviously the ideal answer is to buy a suit with a jib slightly smaller than your maximum and with the cross heights on the mainsail all slightly within what is on your certificate as maximum 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 heights.
if in doubt ask a measurer..
Antony
Thanks, I had already looked at the rules and measurers documents, and was trying to work out how to apply this in practice.
The measurements marked on my certificate are what matters, and I can use any sails that are smaller than those.
Are the foot and luff lengths marked on the sail?
Steve
The only dimensions written on the mainsail are the cross widths.
The dimensions on your certificate are Luff =distance between the bands on the mast. Foot= distance from the aft side of the mast to the band on the boom.
Any sail must be fit inside these bands and it should not be possible, when racing, to pull the sail past the inner edges of these bands.
With regard to the jib it is important, as I mentioned above that the geometry of any jib you fiton the boat fits the sheeting arrangement you have.
Kevan Bloor
Hi Kevan,
thanks for the clarification.
I suppose the only problem left would be if a sail with a much larger luff or foot was used as then it couldn't be adjusted sufficiently with outhaul or halyard/cunningham resulting in a full sail.
thanks
dan