How To Use A Velcro Strap On Your Sails Clew

How To Use A Velcro Strap On Your Sails Clew.

On This Episode of Ask Precision Sails, Darryl answered a question from Bernard. He asked

“What is the best way to use the piece of Velcro for the clew that came with the sail?”

This actually seems to be quite a common question. One of our YouTube Partners Nike from WhiteSpotPirates (checkout her partner page here) also didn’t know what it was for when we gave her a new mainsail for her boat Karl. See the conversation she had with a Facebook commenter below!

You can see what they are referring to in this photo – the small circle object on the boom in the bottom left of the picture.

We actually supply a Velcro strap with each mainsail! It has a couple of functions. The first is for when you’re sailing in heavy winds or stormy weather. You can wrap it through your clew and around your boom for extra stability and strength. Another is when you aren’t using a clew slug, you can simply use the Velcro strap and make quick adjustments to the tension of the sail.

The clew of the mainsail often has a slug, or it has a car on the boom. Some boats only use a Velcro strap. Even if you have an attachment method besides the Velcro strap, it’s a really good idea to put the Velcro strap on. It adds a little peace of mind, from the additional strength and stability it provides.

How To Use The Velcro Boom Strap:

So what you’ll see on the Velcro strap is that there is the male and female side of Velcro and then on the inside there’s actual webbing and that’s sewn together with zigzag stitching.

So what you would normally do if you’re going to use your strap is you’re gonna go put the one end right through the clew ring and then gonna wrap the strap around the boom. Just keep wrapping it until you can’t wrap it anymore! That is what’s going to hold the clew down to the boom. You’ll end up with a couple layers on each other with the strap. As the clew pulls the strap will stay tight around the boom.

Also With The Velcro Strap:

You can set the clew a little bit higher if you’d like or a little bit lower; it depends on how much slack you make the strap have. Sometimes the strap will go on an angle and get snagged along the boom but all you have to do is push it a bit and it will move into the proper position.

It’s also perfectly fine to cut the length of the strap, they are usually a bit long. Just make sure to melt the ends after cutting, you’re going to cut Velcro and webbing, you don’t want that to fray.