Dan,

I admit I've had the same notion. On a boat this size, the foil just seems like more friction than it's worth during the headsail drop, but sail changes are convenient nonetheless. One trick I've seen with hanks on J-24's is to crank on a little backstay prior to hoisting the headsail. This takes the slack out of the forestay and reduces the chance of fouling...however, I do still see the kite get pinched in a hank from time to time.

-Jason Cosler

Partial Magic

Dan Pruzan on 4/30/101 7:52 AM said:

>>Hi All

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>>I am considering converting from a headstay foil to hanked on headsails. I know that one drawback is having to do bare-headed jib changes on races with long upwind legs. My other concern is getting tears or pulls in the spinnaker during takedowns. We almost always do windward takedowns and it seems that when we come into the leeward mark on a reach, the spinnaker collapses behind the jib and gets dragged around the forestay during the takedown. I am worried that the hanks might damage the kite. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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>>Dan Pruzan

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>>Wile E Coyote

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