Mast bands

[geoffr]

Hi all:

I'm seeking your advice re the mast bands that are supposed to be marked on every Investigator mast.

According to the investigator Yacht Association's sail measurement info sheet, there should be a lower band marked on the mast at .62m from the mast heel, and a second one at 5.93m above the top edge of that lower band. This puts the top mark about 300mm down from the very top of the mast: the very highest you could pull up the mainsail to.

I've just marked both with black plastic electrical tape, but now wonder about the next instruction from the fact sheet above that says the mainsail 'must be set within the bands on the mast ... at all times'.

Now, with a mainsail with a maximum leech of 6.4m, clearly that's not going to sit within the bands I've just marked (which are 5.93m apart).

So what is the go with these bands? Do they instead mean that you can set your mainsail at any hight, as long as it crosses either band (rather than sit within the bands)?

Cheers,

[Yara50]

Check out the luff dimension, rather than the leech.

[geoffr]

Yeah - my mistake re leech and luff.

The notes don't actually specify a luff measurement up the bolt rope.

But I'm still none the wiser as to whether the top mark on the mast is where the peak of the mainsail should rise to, and no higher. If that's the case, then I've still got 300mm to the top, which seems very odd.

[Dr. Peter]

No bands on my mast?

[geoffr]

Peter:

I'm rapidly thinking they are a waste of good electrical tape too!

Cheers, Geoff