I'm trying again to get a Mainsail for MR 2794 (Rapidity). Ive looked at the for sale section, but the no one has any sizes and I believe my older boat may need different size to more modern boats. I've measured the black band distances on mast and boom (both ally, Needlespar) and they are 5860 and 2300 respectively. Any help much appreciated. Located near Reading but prepared to travel to collect. Email or Phone 0118 9883704.

Griff..I had the same problem, I asked one of the sailmakers to make a sail to fit my measurements (the luff is similar to yours)...it seemed to be the only way or wait for ever for something to come up 2nd hand...expensive...but the boat was free and the sails are lovely

Griff
Ther is of course, another way - just get on with it and go more a 'modern standard suit (5720 luff).
No reason not to, really. Change your bands, get alteration noted on the certificate and I think that is about it. Lots of second hand stuff available. In performance terms you may lose something somewhere but then gain it somewhere else. Find out about the sheerline, put the lower black band about to the max - between 630mm / 730mm above sheerline and you may end up with about 50mm of spare mast at the top which is not a problem. You could then consider a second hand mast in the future, with plenty available. I will be interested to see other folks comment on this. How good is the 5720 luff ?

The older boats with longer hog stepped masts just don't go properly with the modern sails which are cut for different mast characteristics. Believe me, we've tried it. Half Cut was awful and slow and difficult to manoeuvre with a modern cut loose footed dacron sail and we found her old 1971 main to give far better performance! Then we got a decent second hand set that fit the measurements and we really improved.

A secondhand mast with a 5720 luff would seem the ideal solution.

Hi, I have three mains for sale that may be of use.

two with sail number 970,
one with sail number 1716.

They are in very good condition and am open to offers if you are interested.

I have a kevlar tall rig main for sale, foot from memory is 2230mm, luff is max.6180mm

3112 came with an elderly set of sails that seemed to set reasonably well if a bit baggy and a second hand replacement mast. A brand new set of sails cut to her certificated measurements seemed too long for the luff groove and I had to use a bit of Cunningham to take out the creases. So this winter I measured the luff groove and discovered it was 5710 rather than 5765. So I have dropped the gooseneck fitting 55 mm (just over 2"). The mast is a hog stepped Super Spars M7, which is a pretty hefty section, so I do not think 4 extra very small holes will break it. Most of my friends reckon that scraping it along the seabed will damage it far more! I expect the older sails will now fit better as well because the bagginess was probably due to luff rope shrinkage from age not being fully 'hoisted out'.

I would agree with Ben that as far as performance is concerned it should not be reduced by going for a 5720 luff length provided the sails are cut for an older stiffer style rig and they measure up to the rules.

Enjoy the 2010 season.

Provided that dropping the gooseneck 50mm hasn't brought the black band below 630mm above the sheerline then you will be fine.  That's what I understand by the measurement.

Griff
I don't think that you can look at sails from a boat that did not have a spinny chute. The jib tack moved from the stem to behind the chute , probably about 7ins.
I am back to the 5720 luff again !!!

The jib isn't the problem, it's the main. Even so, there is so much variation on jib leech lengths that the track adjustment should take care of the discrepancy.

Hi Garry,
Same here. I didn't check when I did the deed but this morning discovered that the new band is about 670 mm above the sheerline so the 5710/20 line must have just about been on the upper limit.
Hope to see you during the season if the weather is a bit kinder than last year.