Talk:Cunningham (sailing)

Downhaul

Please don't give me grief about the use of "downhaul" for Cunningham. It's quite common (e.g. in Bermuda, where I'm from, as well as in the US). Do a web search for "downhaul"+"mainsail" and you will see lots of uses for "downhaul" in that sense. Noel (talk) 21:47, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

It is a downhaul definitely. But a specific type. Article should explain the difference that Cunningham is a specific type of downhaul when there is a black band on the mast. The was the reason it was invented by Briggs Cunningham because the amount of luff tension couldn't be increased without exceeding the top and bottom black bands on the mast that limited the distance the corners of the sail could move.

Diagram

{{reqdiagram}}

I added a photo, which I think is OK. If a diagram is still requested, please re-add the template with more details. --pfctdayelise (talk) 11:08, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Photo is wrong. The photo is of a regular downhaul which just pulls the sail down.

The cunningham is to get around the problem that in many types of boat the sail is not allowed to be pulled down further than a particular point - usually limited by a coloured band around the mast which is usually the position of the tack corner of the sail.

When more tension is required, the rules don't allow the tack to be pulled down further than the coloured band (which is where the photo is wrong) so there is an eyelet in the sail above the corner that can be tensioned without moving the corner itself.

I don't have an unlicensed photo to use... but here is the cunningham eye above the sail corner. Cunningham is the black line and it is never in the corner of the sail.

• Cunningham is black line and never goes to the corner of the sail.
  Cunningham is black line and never goes to the corner of the sail.

Main reason for use?

User:Boatman has just deleted this excellent prose of mine:

Also, on racing sailboats the height to which the head of the sail can be raised is limited by the black band, a mark around the mast which shows the maximum luff permitted by class rules or the boat's measurement certificate. Without a Cunningham, in light air, the head must be left below the black band in order to have correct luff tension. This means there will be less sail area in conditions which call for as much as possible. A Cunningham allows the sail to hoisted to its full height in all conditions.

I don't do revert wars, but I'm tempted here. The paragraph above is true, it's accurate, and actually it's more important than the given reason.

The given reason -- ease of use -- was important when sails were attached to the mast with brass slides on a brass track -- which is when Briggs Cunningham invented it. Now, with ball bearing cars or luff tapes, and much stronger winches, it is easy enough to get whatever luff tension you want with the halyard -- the importance of using a Cunningham is that the head is at the black band, up where the wind is stronger, all the time.

. . Jim - Jameslwoodward (talk • contribs) 21:34, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Hi Jim, On SOME sailboats the height to which the head of the sail is limited by the black band. Many classes use a halyard lock to control sail height. The Laser uses a mast/luff sleeve etc etc. Sail makers generally, and some would say usually design a racing sail to be hoisted to its maximum height irrespective of how the height is controlled (eg black band marker, halyard lock, luff pocket etc etc). The cunningham is used to to control the wind flow usually in a fully hoisted sail. The problem with your text is that the black band is not the only control used for sail height. Definitely not the norm in all racing sailboats that the cunningham is used to allow the sail to be hoisted to its full height. To be included in the article the text needs to be modified because it it is currently 100% specific re black band and talks about a specific use implying that there are no other options and is therefore inaccurate. Would appreciate your comments/reconsideration/rewrite as you see appropriate. Thanks, Boatman (talk) 22:14, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

OK. My only racing in small boats was before Cunninghams were in general use, and I am only generally aware of small boat practice today. And I intended "black band" to be shorthand for "the maximum height to which the head may be hoisted under the applicable racing rules" -- certainly black bands are not the only way to set the limit.

I think, though, that you miss the change in the Cunningham's purpose over the years. Its original use was during a time when, if you tensioned the halyard, the extra tension would not reach down to the tack until you'd taken several tacks -- most of the tension would be at the top. This was partly a function of sticky brass sail slides, and partly of stretchy materials that did not transmit the force well. The Cunningham allowed you to tension the bottom of the luff quickly.

Now, with modern equipment on most racing boats, the tension in the whole luff could easily be adjusted from either end. Except for the need to start with the head at its maximum permitted height, a racer could just tension the halyard appropriately and forget the Cunningham. The Cunningham makes it possible to use a halyard lock or to hoist the sail to the black band (or its equivalent), leave it up there where the wind is strongest, and still adjust luff tension. It also makes it possible for a racing sail to be cut with a luff that is the right length for light air, but too long (except for the Cunningham) when tensioned for heavy air. Since many class rules allow only one mainsail in an inventory, this increases the versatility of the sail.

My sailing experience is very deep (45,000 miles), but very narrow (only a quarter of that is racing and nothing smaller than 30 feet in the last 30 years), so I am, as you obliquely suggest, not really qualified to update this article. Perhaps you would take a shot at it? . . Jim - Jameslwoodward (talk • contribs) 12:00, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Hi Jim, Sorry but you have missed the point. Ref my previous reply above, I did not say that the use had not changed what I said was "... the text needs to be modified because it it is currently 100% specific re black band and talks about a specific use implying that there are no other options and is therefore inaccurate......". I personally think that the article as it now stands covers your point for a non sailing wiki reader to comprehend. However I have no objection to it being expanded providing it is clear and accurate and makes sense to a non sailing wiki reader. Thanks, Boatman (talk) 17:11, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

(P.S. Started sailing/racing in 1963 and been racing and cruising onshore and offshore ever since. Managed to fit in a 5.5 metre Olympic trial along the way. Currently making a fool of myself racing a Laser).

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Historical use

"They recalled the time when Briggs Cunningham cut a hole in a 6-metre sail and called it a cunningham hole"

"Yachting" magazine December 1987, Page 56 https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=25jkilTtSCcC&pg=PA56&dq=Briggs+Cunningham+cut+a+hole+in+a+6-metre+sail+and+called+it+a+cunningham+hole

1/ if it was a new hole it wasn't in the tack (bottom front corner) but to add another function. 2/ it seems to have come from 6 metre class yachts 3/ it was called the cunningham hole for some time but now just called cunningham. It is the hole. Not the rope used for adjusting it.

Perhaps 6-metre class records have more details?

Better explanations

1. Cunningham is an additional downhaul, that can be rapidly let off with no fear the sail running up the mast ...,as the primary downhaul is still in place

2. Reason it exists . Halyard will tension leech too , but cunningham increases luff tension only . Also halyard tension is not easily adjusted,even if it was going to have the same effect as a Cunningham. 27.96.199.11 (talk) 17:00, 9 December 2021 (UTC)