mainsail and the boom grove help.

The foot of my mainsail looks as though its suppose to ride in a rail on the boom. The boom has a grove inside it that the main will fit into but never stays in. Is this a problem can I leave it or do I need to tighten something to make it stay in the grove?

Pic?

Here you go.
The sail is laying on my kitchen table, soon I can show it while underway.

Two things come to mind right off. That is nice equipment you have there. The boom looks new, and so does the sail!

They look new, but they appear to not work together well. You are going to need to modify that sail to stay in the track of the boom, as it is too small. Call a sail company, and I am sure they can offer the correct suggestion. Www.sailrite.com comes to mind.

Any idea of what a unit looks like? If I had a picture of a boom and main working together I could get mine in the ball park.

If the sail is stretched tight on the boom between the tac (mast end) and the clew (stern end of the boom) that may be all that is needed. Contact sailrite and ask them, they will know what to do.

Looks like you just need have a boltrope sewn on to the foot of the sail. Don't know what it would cost to have done since I do most of that sort of thing for myself. There is a book available called The Sailmakers Apprentice that I already purchased for my library that describes the process of doing this and other sail related tasks very well. It also teaches you to hand sew sails and related rigging. Already sewed up the first project in the book, a canvas ditty bag. Was a lot of fun learning all of the stitches and construction methods.

Terry