Jib sheet leads on J46s

[Jim Brainard]

I have a question for J46 owners about the sheet leads for ~100% jibs on their J46.

On our present jib (Doyle) the best sheeting angle and lead is between the upper and lower shrouds.  That route seems to work when close-hauled and serendipitously (I think), as the sheet is eased and the jib car moved forward on the track the sheet leads pretty well between the two shrouds.   That said, we are contemplating a new 100% and I am wondering how others have specified the clew position of their non overlapping jib.  It seems to me that shortening the foot and lowering the clew would allow sheeting inside both shrouds.  

The disadvantage to that lead however is that it might not allow much adjustment forward with the car when not close-hauled.  

How do others sheet their smaller jobs?

Thanks. 

JIm Brainard.   

Brainwaves.  Hull#18

Sent from my iPhone

[Bernie Coyne]

Hi Jim:

 

We had the exact same sheeting problem on our J/46 with the original 100% jib...it had to be sheeted between the shrouds which is fine until you bear off to a reach and the shrouds distort the sheet lead.  When we had our new 100% jib made by North in Salem, MA we asked for a higher clewed jib which meant the sheet car could be further aft and the sheet runs outside the shrouds.  This setup is much better imho.

 

Cheers,

Bernie

J/46 #10 Mystic Rose

 

Bernie Coyne

Email: bernie...@outlook.com

Cell/text: 781-789-0762

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[Fred Hawes]

Hi Jim,

We got new sails two years ago, non overlapping, sails made of unobtainium. 

The Quantum rep thought inside sheeting was the natural best place. We immediately saw that as an improvement, even though we had been leading thru the shrouds before that.

Thinking about it, our sailing often involves sailing as close as we can. Downhill sailing is usually done with our spinaker-on-a-rope, my name for a furled kite. Best sail I ever had. Not much variety here in SD bay. So it’s the hard-on-the-wind sailing that is improved by inside sheeting.

Hope you are well,

Fred Hawes

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 11, 2025, at 2:38 PM, Jim Brainard <brain...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a question for J46 owners about the sheet leads for ~100% jibs on their J46.

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[D. Scott Miller]

I do the same (between the shrouds) racing closehauled. If I expect to bear away, I’ll often go up to the mast and run the lazy sheet around to the leeward side, outside of the shrouds. The cam locks outboard of the primary winches are great for switching sheets. (And if I’m going to tack soon, I’ll use another (third) sheet instead of the lazy one.)

If I’m not competing, I’ll just be lazy and leave the sheets rigged outside of the shrouds. 

On Apr 11, 2025, at 5:38 PM, Jim Brainard <brain...@gmail.com> wrote:

 I have a question for J46 owners about the sheet leads for ~100% jibs on their J46.

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[S/V Sweet Ruca]

FWIW. Our dacron cruising jib is 110% and sheets between the shrouds. 

It works well, but like anything could be improved. But..

There is a lot to break down on the pros and cons of each way, use case, sail design, wind and sea conditions, hull/keel/rudder type, etc.

The J has a decent underwater profile, but it's no TP52. The angle of attack on the top foils has to work well with the bottom foils. Pointing higher doesn't always translate to increased upwind vmg.

Your sheeting angle will affect your mainsail and driving groove. 

If it is your AP jib, perhaps best to keep it simple, as J designed, and stick with what works. 

If you are going racing, that's another story.

Best to talk with your sailmaker / designer for your specific case.

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[David Jade]

Just to add to the mix,

 

We have a new Doyle 105% jib (Stratus Technora). It has a slightly higher clew. We also sheet it between the shrouds and when close hauled, the clew is just about at the lower shroud – maybe poking through slightly aft of the lower shroud. We use a jib car position abaft of the shrouds with this jib.

 

Our J/46 however also has a second set of shorter car tracks, outside of the shrouds. We haven’t used them yet though. I’ve been told two things: 1, that track is used more for reaching with the staysail or 2, it is used for reaching with the jib (which would require a sheet change to go from inner to outer tracks but solves the sheet across the shroud angles). If anyone else has this secondary set of tracks and has some tips, please let us know!

 

I think that our 105% could be sheeted inside all the shrouds but if we did that, for reaching I’d probably have to switch to that outer track since the car would still likely be abaft the shrouds and then cause the sheets to deflect around the shrouds.

 

Btw, just this week we add a set of Selden tubular aluminum “screw covers” as I was becoming concerned that our jib sheets sheet in right against the chainplate screw threads and I was worried about chafe. I met another J/46 who had added them for that same reason. It nothing else, there is now less friction with the sheets coming across the shrouds.

 

David             _/)

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[Robert Kowalski]

Do you guys know how to barber haul and in-hull on your boats? If you have twing lines you have everything to do it. Whenever I’m sailing up wind I have a non-overlapping jib thats not even overlap on the mast. If the sea’s are right and I want to point higher I move the windward twing car a bit behind the mast and hook it crossing in front of the mast and twing to the sheet to close the gap on the main. Off wind if my sheet starts to touch my shrouds I take the lazy sheet through a block on the outside rail and switch sheets. I set it up that way when I’m running the jib with a spinnaker (kinda looks cool). If you don’t have outboard tracks but the aluminum toe rail you should have some blocks with some big ass snap shackles, you know the rest.

If that don’t make sense tell me I’ll take some pictures when I’m set up.
Well, thats if they ever get my boat in the water!

Bob

Sailing a course less traveled
Delightfully typed on a full keyboard on a mac

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[York.richardw]

I have had four or five jibs in the 105% range.  Most of them sheet between the shrouds.

We added stainless rollers to relieve chafe and lessen point loading.  

One North jib was very sweet, and we could sheet it inside the shrouds in flat water.  At sea, it still paid to sheet it between the shrouds.  Our UK jib never made it inside.  I think a lot has to do with clew height.  On the non-North jobs, I also had to add an extra shackle at the tack so that the sail was “self-skirting”, an important benefit when sailing short-handed.

We also have the short tracks outside the shrouds.  We usethem regularly when close reaching.  Once we bore off a bit more we would go to the sheet lead through a snatch block on the rail.  A great power-reaching combination.  

We got good at changing sheets or sheet leads even though there is only one primary on each side.  A sailmaker showed me how to tie the clew to the block with a sailstop, ease sheet, re-run sheet, trim in, untie temporary sheet.  

As Curtis said, if you are racing, there are different issues.  But then again, the J/46 is as close to a perfect long-distance boat as anything out there.

…. Dick York, J/46 #9, ARAGORN

On Apr 11, 2025, at 20:06, David Jade <da...@mutable.net> wrote:



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