New sail shakedown

The new mainsail, gaff and halyard setup means a few changes to how Robinetta should be handled. The clew sits much higher, and this means putting the topping lifts on before raising the sail is a must. The gaff exerts a much stronger force on the saddle than before. This is a combination of the higher peak angle and the span being cleated nearer the peak. Because of this, the gaff needs to be kept a bit below horizontal while raising the throat to keep the load off the saddle and the saddle free of the mast.

Lowering is also very different. keeping the gaff almost vertical pushes the saddle down and the sail drops very naturally. Then the gaff can be dropped and with any luck, the sail flaked as it comes.

Once up, trimming is a very different experience too. Gone is the unsightly deep belly and the tell-tales make one instantly aware of the aerodynamics. The most surprising thing about the peak adjuster is that it seems pretty obvious when to use it. I'm really pleased with the arrangement of the fiddle blocks. They sit above the horse looking like they had always been there. The only problem is that the peak halyard falls are fouled by the gaff and look pinched between the gaff and the topping lift.

I had to splice an extra length on the peak halyard and being lazy, I did it with a short splice. This splice acts as a stopper, preventing the fiddle blocks separating. It turns out that this means its possible to let the peak adjuster off and un-cleated and know one has the maximum available adjustment. Something of an unexpected safety feature.
Peaking-up and slacking off the peak is a piece of cake. Like nearly all lines, the adjuster comes back to the cockpit and you just uncleat it, play it and recleat.

Reefing was a little more difficult than it used to be. Some practice required.
We also practiced changing jibs. Putting the snap shackle actually into use made this quite easy. As did the strop to make off the wickham-martin Alison had installed on the stem-post.

Lots to learn, but it all seems to work.