On my n20, a line attached to the boom limits my outhaul. Why?

Is anyone changing their outhaul setting when going downwind?

The line (at the end of the boom I'm presuming) is there to prevent the car from sliding forward. The outhaul trim line at the front of the boom is there to pull the car towards the back of the boom.

We usually set the outhaul at the beginning of the day for about a fists' width between the boom and foot.

Around the bouys you really don't have much time to mess with the outhaul before you're kareening out of control <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Chris,

I asked the same question earlier this year - it was on Frank's I20 my F18 as well. Apparently, before they started building the mainsails with the plastic sail slug on the luff/foot of the main, it was possible to pull the main sail out of the mast track by cranking the outhaul. The line was put in place to limit the outhaul travel so this wouldn't happen. I use it now on my F18 but only set it to my desired upwind setting so that when we're rounding Cmark, I just yank on the outhaul until the line catches it. I don't have to look at it to know it's where I want it.

Because the boom angles upward toward the back of the boat, pulling on more down-haul also has the effect of tensioning the foot tension of the sail. When we were first sailing the 20's, some guys were pulling on the outhaul too much in the rush to get sorted at the leeward gate, then jumping out on the wire and hammering the downhaul which over tensioned the outhaul and pulled the bottom of the sail out of the mast.
To set the correct length of this limiter line, rig the sail with loose out-haul, pull on a shed load of down haul, then pull on out-haul until it is snug. This is then the position of max out-haul and the line can be adjusted accordingly.
In a decent breeze, letting off the down-haul also eases the outhaul enough. Only in really light stuff did we use the actual control on the boom the add more camber.

Paul

Thanks guys! I have two mains and the newer one looks like it needs to have more outhaul applied to it. Time to experiment a little. Missed you both at the Statue Race. Thanks for the help.

Tonight I untied the line that was limiting the outhaul. Nice! Started with the "fist" dimension then actually put on a little more. Much better looking sail. Thanks again.