Sail Plan Help

I am currently working on the basic sail plan for a boat that I am working on. I am trying to decide on a square top main or a main with a very wide rounded roach. I'm going for a mix of ease of use, and performance. Thanks for the help. Hopefully the screenshots are attached.

P.S.-Any advice on sail design is appreciated.

 

Think about it this way.....

How would you get leach tension in either?

 

There's these wonderful things called battens that were invented a few thousand years ago...

 

Tim, I'd suggest you go with the square top with a slightly shorter chord at the head with the back end(the "peak" in gaff terms) higher than the front end. I prefer the response of a square top to gusts over any other sail; if you have a chance sail a boat with a square top before you decide.Aerodynamically, I'm convinced the square top is without a doubt superior to other planforms and coupled with it's automatic gust response (without complicated rigging) it's my choice for sure. In this picture you can see the upper diagonal batten on the main-a gaff can be designed that allows a square top with an adjustable upper outhaul elimnating the diagonal batten. The head of the jib is supported with a small gaff and it is adjustable-but I'd make it bigger in the future...
aeroskiff_trial009.jpg
Address:http://www.monofoiler.com/images/aeroskiff_trial009.jpg Changed:11:06 PM on Friday, October 31, 2003

 

I suggest that you have a good read of this thread http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=457&highlight=sail+aerodynamics, gives a lot of information.

Mikey