Day 612.

The first sail I tackled was the jumbo jib sail.  This sail is located near the bow and is anchored to the jumbo jib boom.

I started with this sail because it is the simplest sail (just three sides, no reef bands), and is small (less sail cloth gets wasted with each attempt).

I followed my normal process for making sails.  A paper template was made using the plans, then test-fit on the actual ship and adjusted as necessary.

The sail cloth was marked up, cut, and sewn.  This sail has just three edges, so the hems went pretty quickly.  The stitches forming the strips run parallel to the longest edge.

As the first sail, I expected this one to take a few tries.  Overall, it took four attempts to get right.  The first two were made with some random white cloth from a local hobby store (since I knew my first attempts would fail, why waste real cloth?).

The third attempt used real sail cloth, but I pulled the fabric too much while sewing, and the long edge wasn’t straight.

The fourth try turned out fine.

As my first sail, it took 4 tries.

The jumbo jib sail is made.

Attaching to the Jumbo Jib Boom

The jumbo jib boom was de-rigged and removed from the ship.  This required disconnecting the jumbo jib sheet, inhaul tackle, and jumbo jib topping lift.

The sail was then laced to the jumbo jib boom.  I used a simplified method where a continuous line is used instead of individual lines for each lace.  This is not only easier/faster, but allow me to adjust the tension more easily.

The sail is laced to the boom using 0.008″ tan rigging line.

The lower aft corner was tied to the boom.

The jumbo jib boom was then re-installed on the ship and its various rigging lines were re-attached.

Hanks

The long edge runs along the jumbo jib stay, and is attached using hanks.  The hanks are U-shaped metal pieces that loop over the stay and are secured to the sail.  I couldn’t make them look good at scale, and I couldn’t find suitable parts at my local sewing supply store.  So, I substituted brass rings.

I made the brass rings in bulk by wrapping wire around a brass tube and cutting down one side.

Hanks were simulated using rings made from brass wire.

The rings were installed on the sail, then the jumbo jib stay was de-rigged and run through the rings.

The simulated hanks hold the sail to the jumbo jib stay.

Jumbo Jib Halliard

The jumbo jib halliard is what keeps the jumbo jib sail pulled up.  Two single blocks were installed on the fore mast, just below the gate, when the masts were rigged.

The halliard runs through two blocks that were attached when masts were rigged.

Another single block is attached to the top of the sail, and 0.018″ tan rigging line runs between the three blocks.

The halliard runs through a block attached to the top of the sail.

One end of the line runs down to a single block, which attaches to another line that runs through a block on the rail, back up, through the block, and back down.  It is then tied off to itself.

The halliard loops through some blocks on one side and gets tied off to itself.

The other end of the halliard runs to the rail on the opposite side of the ship and gets tied off to a belaying pin.

Jumbo Jib Downhaul

The downhaul is a line that sailors would use to pull the sail down when it is being put away.  When the sail is raised, this line hangs a little loose.

It starts right next to the block on the top of the sail.  It is secured to the top of the sail with an eye splice, and is made from 0.008″ tan line.

The top of the downhaul is secured to the ring at the top of the sail.

It hangs loosely and runs through a block down near the boom.  This block is seized into a black line, about 1″ long, that is secured to the jumbo jib stay bail (where the jumbo jib stay is secured).

The line then gets tied off to a bitt.

A block is secured to the stay bail with a short black line.  The downhaul passes through this line and gets tied off.

Everything gets tightened up, and the jumbo jib sail is finished!

The completed jumbo jib sail.