Category Archives: Rigging

Mast bend and mainsail shape

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Bending the mast is a fast and simple way of managing the power on your sail boat

As discussed here mast-rake and mast bend are two different aspects of mast “tune” that affect the boats balance and so feel and ultimately performance. This essay discusses mast BEND. There is an element of headsail shaping connected to mast bend but we will get to that in future posts.There are other tools in the mainsail shaping tool box, but this essay is about mast bend

The Basics:

More wind requires a flatter sail

Less wind prefers a fuller sail.

Mainsails have shaping both across the sail (broad seaming) and at the luff, known as Luff Curve

This “curve” is intimately connected with the characteristics of the mast, and so, of the boat. There are differences in the amount of luff curve required between masthead and fractional rigs, masts with spreaders in line–that is to say where the cap shrouds are perpendicular to the mast-Or with “swept back” spreaders, such as many newer boats have.

Some Definitions:

Chord: Is an imaginary line between the luff and the leech

Depth: (and draft, camber & shape-They are quite synonymous and generally used interchangeably by Sailmakers in their jargon) is that distance, perpendicular to the chord line, at which the sail’s surface is furthest away from the chord line.

In the sketch below:

The line ZZ is the chord line.

The portion “C” is the chord LENGTH on the sail.

The distance “a” is the chord DEPTH (draft camber shape…).

The distance “b” is the POSITION of the draft measured aft of the leading edge of the foil which is in this case to the right of the image. Thus a/c is the draft and b/c is it’s position.

Chord (length) draft and location of draft are all depicted in this image.

Chord (length) draft and location of draft are all depicted in this image.

Power: over and under (powered)

Power (force, energy …wind speed) is what gives the sensations you feel thru the wheel or tiller and via the heel angle of the boat. With headsails, managing the power is relatively easy: Too much power, then put up the small (er) one-Or more likely today either partially roll up the genoa or roll it up all the way and motor-sail.

Sail size and shape:

Having the right (sized) sails of the right shape for the conditions is, for those who prefer to sail for the sensations of how the boat feels thru the tiller/wheel, a key part of this sensation. Too much sail and/or sails that are too full makes the helm feel heavy and generates too much weather helm. In this condition the boat heels more than you want and always inclined to want to round up. This is of course unpleasant, occasionally quite noisy, slow and not infrequently intimidating for some on board.

The sensations of being underpowered are less dramatic, noisy, violent and so less intimidating.

Power on a sailing boat comes of course from the sails. Having the right shape in the sails is therefore key to getting the boat to “feel good” and sail well.

Managing the power

One tool in the box of adjustments available to sailors is adjusting the camber of the mainsail-What many folks refer to as the belly of the sail. Camber is the “depth” of a sail at a given point on the sail. (NB when we/you say the sail is blown out, usually this refers to the draft being further than 50% aft on the sail)

This picture shows me and a high school intern measuring the draft amount and location on a 420 mainsail strung up in the loft.

This picture shows me and a high school intern measuring the draft , the amount and its location on a 420 mainsail strung up in the loft.

The camber on any foil is expressed as an amount, at a location. So you might hear Sailmakers say something like…”it was 8% at 35% aft.” This means that what they were looking at was 8% of the fore and aft span (of the chord line) perpendicular from that line and that position was 35% aft, from the luff. Translated: the sail was 8% deep at 35% aft.

Another picture of working with Tristan discussing issues surrounding sail shape: Chord, draft position and so on.

Working with the intern and discussing issues surrounding sail shape: Chord, draft position and so on. This sail looks quite full because the mast is not bent.

So for example if the chord span (“c” above) was 10 feet and 8% of 10 feet is 9.6 inches so the sail surface was (“a” above) 9.6 inches away from the Chord line, and this point is (“b” above) 3 and a-half feet aft along the span from the leading edge.

So far so good?

Luff round

Now sails are not just triangular (Yes, mainsails have roach but many/most “cruising boat” sails have very little), the point is they are curved at the luff too. This is called, no surprise, “luff curve or luff round”. How much curve and at what position on the luff and how these points is determined are all components of the sail’s design.

On this J 30 main, the area of the sail to the left of the left hand tape is called luff round. There is a lot of it on a J 30 because they have relatively bendy masts, especially above the hounds.

On this J-30 main, the area of the sail to the left of the left hand tape is called luff round. There is a lot of it on a J-30 because they have relatively bendy masts, especially above the hounds.

Luff round and mast bend are intimately connected. If the luff curve and the mast bend “match” is correct, you have a 6-speed stick shift gearbox. If the mainsail luff curve and the mast bend are not mated, pretty closely, then you have a 1953 shift on the column three speed with no fluid in the transmission, as it were. It is really critical and the more performance oriented the boat the more critical it becomes. AND this is why having a back stay adjuster (and knowing how and when to use it) is a great thing to know, if you like sailing your boat, as opposed to being on while it is sailing.

Sketch of a mainsail set on a straight mast

Sketch of a mainsail set on a straight mast

Briefly stated, when you bend the mast, you can flatten the mainsail. A flatter sail is to be preferred in more wind. Flatter sails reduce power in the sail, that is reducing load on the tiller/wheel. When you bend the mast, in windier conditions you will feel the helm go lighter, all other things being equal.

Mast bend flattens the mainsail

Mast bend flattens the mainsail. When the mast is straight …”straight mast” the sail is fuller. When the mast is bent, as at point “a”, the luff curve gets pulled forward and so flattens the sail.

 

Mast bend on the 12 meter Australlia ion 1980

Mast bend on the 12 meter Australlia in 1980. The defender, Freedom is to weather.

The picture above shows the 12 meters Australia and Freedom coming off the starting line in one of the 1980 races for the America’s Cup. The Australians had fabricated a fiberglass top to one of their spars that would bend much more dramatically than an aluminium one. The top of the mast was controllable, apart from the regular topmast backstay, by “jumpers” and “diamonds” all controlled by hydraulics in the mainsheet trimmers cockpit. It gave the boat the abiity to have more mainsail and the rounder shape to the top of the mast was more efficient. In under about 9 kts of wind we were faster than Freedom. We won one race and were in front by 20 minutes when the time limit expired.

The large roach not withstanding, study the luff on the let. IT has a degree of "luff curve". This will match the mast bend on the boat and so be used to de-power the sail.

The large roach not withstanding, study the luff on the left. It has a degree of “luff curve” about 6 inches to my eye. This will match the mast bend on the boat and so be used to de-power the sail.

If you do not have any mechanism to bend the mast, consider adding a way to do so. For almost all boats there are a variety of pretty simple solutions.  If you cannot find one or need help, contact me….It is not impossible that the money spent on such a set up will be good value with respect to making the boat more agreeable to sail in breeze and so less uncomfortable for all hands.

 

 

 

Headsails, 150, 130 what’s it mean?

Image

One of the most quoted yet least understood phrases used in discussions about headsails, their size, is the “LP”. Customers and prospects alike use phrases like 130, 150 or 100 regularly. But when I inquire as to their understanding of the number, it is rare for the average weekend sailor to get it defined correctly. It is actually very simple. The initials L.P. stand for Luff Perpendicular, usually written as LP. This is a dimension, but not an edge, of the triangle that is a headsail. Its definition is:

“A line drawn at right angles to the luff and that passes through the clew of the sail.”

The LP is drawn from the luff or the sail and passes through the clew. In this image, the line , parallels to the luff is indicated by the pencil. THe distance between the clew and the LP is "x" The percentage of LOP is then x/J

The LP is drawn from the luff of the sail and passes through the clew.  The distance between the clew and the LP is “x” and the percentage of LP is then x/J.

The “size” of a headsail is determined by taking the LP length  and dividing this number by the boat’s “J” The J dimension is, for the purposes of this discussion, is the distance from “the forward face of the mast at the deck to the intersection of the deck and the head stay pin at the stem head”. The J dimension and the LP are inseparably connected.

The LP number, this 150, 120 percent etc., is the length of the LP dimension divided by the boats “J”.  So for example if the boat’s “J” is 10 feet and the LP dimension on a sail is 13 feet, the sail has an LP of 130%.

Two sails, for the same boat can have the same LP yet have different clew heights

Two sails, for the same boat can have the same LP yet have different clew heights

In the image above, there are two sets of dashed liners. the red dash lines are the LP length.The green l one, long with short dashed between is the trim line. That is the axis along which the sail will want to sheet.  It is worthwhile noting too that the LP and the height of the clew of the sail are connected only by the fact that both a low clewed sail and a high clewed sail can both have the same LP.

I often am asked about all the missing area at the bottom of the sail, with respect to a high-clewed sail. There is no area missing if the sail has the desired LP. It is merely that the clew is high rather than low. The area of a genoa is arrived at by the formulae: LP x Luff length x 0.5. A moment’s reflection will indicate that the length of the foot, the most common answer to my question “what is the LP?” is incorrect.

The clew height is a function of where the sail is proposed to sheet AND the LP for the sail. And these are a function of the purpose and use of the sail.

The clew height is a function of where the sail is proposed to sheet AND the LP for the sail. And these are a function of the purpose and use of the sail.

The length of the foot of the sail is a function of the LP and the clew height.

In the move image/sketch there are two LP lines the red dashed lines. They are the same length. You can see that there are however two clew positions. The clew positions are a function of the “trim” line, basically where on the deck the sail will sheet.

So, the height of the clew is governed by several variables but is driven by firstly what sort of sail it is, for what boat, for what use, where, and then so where the sail needs to sheet. This will be discussed in another post.

Mast rake Versus Mast bend

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Mast RAKE and mast BEND are two aspects of a boat’s sail plan and rigging used in making small adjustments to the mast, thus the performance, on a sailing boat. The two adjustments are quite different. These two words and attendent adjustments are frequently confused among weekend sailors. I will try to separate the two in this post.

Mast RAKE refers to the distance aft of perpendicular (to the waterline-Horizontal) the top of the mast is. It is used to fine-tune the boats balance and is generally not changed very often on cruising boats and perhaps never.

Mast BEND refers to applying tension to the backstay so that the mast bends to some degree. The amount of bend varies with the boat. BEND can be adjusted on the boat while sailing to change the sail shape and is adjusted depending on the wind speed.

I will address mast rake first.

MAST RAKE:

Some background:

Sail boat designers need to make sure the boat will ‘balance’ when sailing. This means in practice that there will be the ‘right’ amount of pressure, or ‘helm’, on the tiller or wheel when sailing up wind in about 10-15 knots of true wind. This balance is created by the relative positions of two features of the boat’s design. The sail plan’s Center of Effort (CE) and the boat’s (the hull, keel and rudder) Center of Lateral Resistance (CLR). The center of effort of the sail plan is quite easy to determine.

In the picture below you will see three short pencil lines at the pointy end of the crayon. This is the position of the sails C of E that I drew for this exercise. If you look carefully you will see the Designers hand written note indicating HIS C of E on the sail plan, (and a note on the sail’s size in square feet) immediately under where I found the C of E.

the intersections of the pencil lines is the Center of Effort of this sail

The intersections of the pencil lines is the Center of Effort of this sail

The designer calculates the C of E by drawing three lines on the sail plan. They are drawn from the center of one edge of the triangle (the sail) to the opposite angle as seen in the image below.

Big picture of the the center of effort

Big picture of the the center of effort

Lines are struck from the mid-point of the boom to the head, from the mid-point of the mast to clew and the mid-point of the leech to the tack. Where the lines intersect is the C of E. This point is an integral part of the sail and ‘moves’ with the sail. So if for instance the fore stay is lengthened, the mast HEAD moves aft (increasing the rake) the C of E moves aft (creating more weather helm). The reverse reduces weather helm and if excessive, creates neutral or sometimes lee helm.

Mid point of boom.

Mid point of boom.

The C of E is found by striking a line from each sides of the triangle to the opposite corner. Above is the mid-point of the boom, to the head of the sail.

A line from the mid point of the mast to the clew

A line from the mid point of the mast to the clew

The picture above shows a line from the mast mid-point to the clew.

This line is from the leech mid point to the tack

And this line is from the leech mid-point to the tack

Sailmakers need to know the mast rake for a few reasons all to do with making sure the sail(s) fit the boat.

RAKE is determined in most boats, not dinghies (they use another way) by measuring the distance the masthead is AFT of vertical, that is perpendicular to the waterline. It is measured at the boom and described as “xx inches of rake”, at least among Sailmakers & Riggers. Generally it looks like this:

Mast rake measurement on a J-105 rig.

Mast rake measurement on a J-105 rig.

The ruler shown above is set perpendicular to the water line, (on the dwg,) and just touching the back of the mast at the masthead (see picture of mast head below). Sailmakers do this, on a sail plan by using the right angle triangle on the right and laying the ruler alongside the triangle so it touches the mast head while perpendicular to the LWL. You can see here the rake on the J-105 on the sail plan is considerable.

Mast rake view at the top of the rig

Mast rake view at the top of the rig

To measure the rake on the boat you basically set up a plum bob, so you will need the following. The main halyard; a weight—a one gallon jug of water, fuel or rum, or the canvas tool bag is fine and a measuring tool: a 6-foot Stanley tape is fine. Ideally this measurement is done on a windless or light air day where the boat is not bouncing around. It should take 5 minutes or less. It is dead easy to do alone but a mate is always good to have.

Attach the weight to the main halyard and hoist the halyard only a couple of feet so the weight is half way between the bottom of the boom and the cabin top. Let the halyard/weight come to rest. Where the halyard crosses the boom, measure forward to the aft face of the mast and note the distance. This is the rake:-“xx inches”. So in the picture below, the amount of rake is that distance between the forward side of the ruler and the  aft side of the mast,

VIew of the plum bob/main halyard across the boom

View of the plum bob/main halyard across the boom

I used a J-105 as an example here because they have a lot of rake so it is clear in these pictures. Most ‘cruising’ boat’s do not have this much rake.

On the other side of the coin, If there is almost no rake, less than say 2 inches on a 35-foot boat, this bears looking into. If there is a lot, more than say 12-15 inches on the same boat, again this bears research. In the former, you may relate this to the light feel in the helm. In the latter, it will be a large factor in the boat’s weather helm.

Sailmakers need to know how much rake is on a boat when designing sails for several reasons. On a practical note, three key ones are: so the boom does not hit the dodger or bimini or on some boats the mast gallows. How much rake a boat has is also an indicator as to how the boat is set up; rigged or tuned up if you like. To use the J-105 example, if I were sent a measurement sheet that showed 3 inches of rake on a J-105 that would set of alarm bells because it is way off base.

Rake information is needed for designing headsails too. The C of E of headsails is determined the same way as for a mainsail. Thus the amount of rake has an impact on where the clew is going to land. If one was to merely duplicate the three edge dimensions for one boat of a particular class onto a sistership, without checking the sistership’s rake, AND the sistership had a lot of rake, then the clew would be a lot lower and perhaps the sail would not be able to be sheeted to the installed genoa track. The reverse is true if there is a lot less rake, the genoa may want to sheet where there is no track–Seen that happen too.

These two scenarios are less of a problem on cruising boats but a detail that consumes a lot of checking-time on race boats where the track locations are very specific and the tracks are usually pretty short, to save weight of course.

Next up Mast Bend

 

Newport to Bermuda Race 2016: Part one

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An inside staysail suitable for setting of small sails is a requirement of the Newport to Bermuda race. Any offshore race actually

An inside staysail suitable for setting of small sails is a requirement of the Newport to Bermuda race. Any offshore race actually

Yeah yeah, I know, some of the boats are not even back home after the 2014 event but, it is never too early to start planning.

And anyway, last week I received an email from a fellow who wanted counsel on putting together a campaign for the 2016 Newport Bermuda race. We met for a burger and beer and had a great time going over the various elements comprising a successful campaign. IT should be noted that at the moment he does not have a boat suitable for this race. After writing the Spindrift post yesterday, I thought it might be interesting to compare my notes from this meeting with what the Spindrift guys might be thinking about.

For this fellow I came up with, in no particular, just as I thought of them:

A boat suitable for the raced AND ones which the Race committee will permit to enter.

While not used in "normal" yacht races, the physical testing of a boats stability is normal in the open classes, as evidenced here by the pull down test for a 6.5 meter Mini-Transat boat. FOr the Newport to Bermuda race, the Organizing Authority refers to a boats rating certificates and imposes regulations on stability from that data.

While not used in “normal” yacht races, the physical testing of a boats stability is normal in the open classes, as evidenced here by the pull down test for a 6.5 meter Mini-Transat boat. For the Newport to Bermuda race, the Organizing Authority refers to a boats rating certificates and imposes regulations on stability from that data.

The Racing rules of Sailing AND the particular rules of the Newport to Bermuda race.

Preparation of the boat, going over all the systems, upgrading or paring them as necessary
Management of the whole project INCLUDING returning from Bermuda…
Delegation of tasks and areas of responsibility—Sailboat racing is a management exercise as much as a sail boat race.
Strategies for developing the boat, the systems and the crew—Proposed crew is light on for offshore experience into an integrated team. Coaching practice theory and other class room work as it were.
Safety at Sea education—both formal, the usual weekend seminars in the Spring and more intuitive, experiential sort
Weather, (including Gulf Stream) learning about and then decision making during the race.

The ability to capture weather information and the skill to interoperate it is a key element in any ocean race these days with the latter being the more difficult.

The ability to capture weather information and the skill to interoperate it is a key element in any ocean race these days with the latter being the more difficult.

Rigging and sails AND related components of crew co-ordination for setting, changing, lowering sails and the techniques, where each person is for what maneuver
Food—What, how prepared, what kind, where stowed, how served and what to eat when the wx. goes to pieces.

Cooking facilities are mandatory

The care and feeding of the boat’s most important resource and asset is essential

Health of the crew. Overall physical ability to cope with 3-6 days at sea. Meds, issues like Diabetes, seasickness for just couple of issues
And related Medical expertise, what to do when something happens to one of the crew
Logistics, paperwork—passports, race entry paperwork etc.: Back office stuff.
Electronics, related to performance and to Navigation.
Navigation and related disciplines of the position of the boat relative to the Gulf Stream, the expected weather and the competition.
The foregoing is a reasonable overview of what needs to be managed for a 40 foot mono-hull, sailed by Corinthian sailors in a 600-mile race 2 years from now.
In the next few posts I will break down these by number and elaborate a little on just what is needed.

 

Solent stays and storm jibs

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A Solent stay is an excellent way to get a heavy weather Jib or a Storm Jib rigged on your boat. This post will discuss another layer of rigging issues as posed by a fellow from the LinkedIn group. The personal names refer to the people in the discussion topic on LinkedIn.

A Solent stay is a great way to get a smaller sail set when it is too windy for the Jib on the furler

A Solent stay is a great way to get a smaller sail set when it is too windy for the Jib on the furler.

Several issues will be discussed here:

  1. Spar and deck integrity
  2. Aspect ratio of the headsails
  3. Running backstays

Implicit in this essay and the above issues is the  design of the boat and in particular the size of the fore-triangle, in absolute terms and relative to the overall length of the boat.

I am answering a question from a LinkedIn group discussion here since my response on the group was way to long for the comments section and I cannot post images. So this post will read a bit more like a monologue that the usual Blog Post Essay style.

The answers I wanted to post on LinkedIn begin here:

Gentlemen,

To continue on the subject of how to set what kind of small sails for when it is blowing too hard for the bigger ones.

Some points for discussion:

  • Pad eyes ripping out
  • Inner staysail stay (& Runners?)
  • Aspect ratio, again
  • One alternative

 Pad eyes ripping out

Graham is correct. You must make certain beyond any doubt that the structure at the deck termination of the stay is absolutely capable of taking the load. Not merely the load of the stay tension but the dynamic load of the boat bashing off waves etc.  (Please review the images below taken from a Quest 30 set up for single and double-handed sailing in the ocean) Simply because there is a “bulkhead” there, does not mean for a moment it is a true structural member capable of withstanding the loads imparted when sailing in 30 plus knots. Far more often it is merely masking the forward part of the forward cabin from the anchor rode etc. so merely glued in to make the interior look nice. I had this exact situation on a delivery with a Santa Cruz 52 one time. We pulled the padeye out of the deck along with a bit of deck while sailing with the SSL in only about 30 knots and modest seas. Upon subsequent inspection we discovered that the forward “bulk head” was just what I described above, a way to make the forward cabin look nice. Virtually no structural content, yet someone had landed the staysail fittings there….

This image is inside the anchor well on the boat

This image is inside the anchor well on the Quest 30. As you will see the furler is under the deck in the anchor well.We took the primary pin securing the headstay to the boat and attached the eye that is seen here. The piece of string is part of the method we used to align the hole in the deck so the strop would be as straight and parallel with the stay as we could manage.

This issue of local structural strength is one of the reasons I often advocate for the stay to be at the bow because in variably the forward part of the boat, where the head stay lands is strong both in terms of layers of materials but the angular nature of the bow, provides lots of strength through the structural geometry.

We spent a lot of time measuring angles to get the position of the hole in the deck right.

We spent a lot of time measuring angles to get the position of the hole in the deck right.

The staysail passes thru the deck (and into the anchor well) just aft of the headsail furler

The staysail stay passes through the deck (and into the anchor well) just aft of the headsail furler. You can see we lined the hole we made in the deck with a plastic through hull and used a textile strop connected to the eye seen in the picture above.

 

This  is what the strop looks like attached to the adjustment tackle on deck:

Here you can see the strop passing through the deck to the eye on the primary headstay pin seen in the images above

Here you can see the strop passing through the deck to the eye on the primary headstay pin seen in the images above We got the alignment of the whole arrangement pretty good. The strop is only just bearing on the aft edge of the hole.

 

Inner Stay and Runners:

This image os of the Inside stay arrangement on a 30 footer. It is NOT a Solent as in a sail that is arael to and just aft of the headstay. Rather it is in snside staysail, staysail storm staysail, choose your name.

This image is of the inside stay arrangement on the  Quest 30. It is NOT a Solent as in a sail that is parallel to and just aft of the headstay. Rather it is an inside staysail stay, a staysail stay, a storm staysail stay, choose your name. The idea is that it provides for a smaller sail for use when the one on the furler is too much.

 

In the images above, the salient points are:

  • Smaller sail set on hanks when the furling headsail is too much
  • The hardware for this sail was already on the mast
  • Using the pad eye on the deck, seen above just aft of the stbd. stanchion made the aspect ratio AND the size of the sail too great and small respectively. (Refer to the Power Point link further on in this post)This is relative because you do not want too much of a jump in sail area between sails other wise there is a gap in the “gear box” as I refer to it as.
  • It later transpired that we discovered the pad eye was intended for a spinnaker staysail which of course see a lot less load.

Timo: I do not know so far if: a) your boat already has an inside stay-a stay originating from a point on the spar about the location of the spreaders, and b) if so is it already set up with a stay, a halyard and so on?

If so, then I again advocate for the base of the stay and so the sails tack fitting to be as forward as possible.(as in the image above) For the reasons previously outlined. BUT be very careful with the mast.  If there is for instance a Spinnaker pole topping lift sheave and line at about the right place. Almost for sure the sheave and related structure for a spinnaker pole topping lift is inadequate to carry the loads of a heavy weather stay.

Staysail stay attachment point on the spar and runner take offs.

Staysail stay attachment point on the spar and runner take offs. The necessary components for the staysail to be attached to the spar  are seen here. Stay attachment-Via a T fitting into the spar, the halyard sheave box and halyard, and attachment points for the runners. Note too that the spar has been reinforced in the way of all this

 

If not, then the issues surrounding installing such rigging are roughly the same as for a Solent stay set up except that you will need to add running backstays too. This may be complicated by the location of the spreaders so you may want to move the ideal location for the stay and halyard away from the spreaders area-Too many holes for one thing.

Aspect ratio:

I had previously mentioned that the Aspect Ration of the Avance 36 fore triangle is over 3:1. I have done some rudimentary calculations and your Self Taking jib is even higher. This is because the 3:1 number originated with the boat’s specified “I” and “J” dimensions. The actual sail dimensions are shorter on the luff and much shorter on the foot. The latter because if the sail sheets to a track, self tacking track, then the clew will be further forward than if the sail sheeted to a track on the deck like “ normal”. I have an old essay on this issue I will post as soon as I can find it.

This link, below is to a 4 slide power point presentation on this Aspect Ratio Question in particular as it applied to the Quest 30. It was prepared by Mark Washeim at Doyle Sails Long Is. (New York) who worked with us on this sail/rigging/seaworthiness discussion

millard hvy staysail 042413

One alternative:

Depending on a few variables like: how confident are you, with whom do you sail, where, how athletic are you and a few more, a way to address your original question: “What to do when it blows harder than the roller furling jib is suitable for?”One answer is to convert the boat back to hanks…..What you say? Give up my roller furling?

Well sailing as you know is a trade of. You know what the trade offs are with the furler. Some of the nice aspects of a sail with hanks are:

  • Nicer sail shape, the Jib can have battens and look like a real Jib.
  • When not sailing close hauled but say close reaching-say 40-80 degrees apparent wind angle, it is possible to rig up a rail lead and so help the sails shaping.
  • With a hank on Jib, it can have a reef like a mainsail-the mechanics are the same as for a reef in the mainsail and any sailmaker worthy of the name can do it.
  • The sail can be a bit bigger, because there are not deductions for the furler and the clew can be further aft, depending on the location of the headsail track.
  • When you need/want to sail in harder wind, you can have the sail that is designed for the conditions, small flat strong etc.
  • Less windage if you have to anchor in hard wind.
  • Less or not chance really of the sail coming partially unfurled in string wind while you are at work. (Something I have seen too)
  • Hanks are way more reliable that ANY Furler (or its furling line…)

 Some points AGAINST reverting to a hank on headsail.

  • What do I do in winds under say 10 knots?”
  • I have to go to the bow to change sails in wind and waves
  • Where do I put the sails?
  • I have to put it on and take it off every time I want to go sailing-I cannot just unroll it.

 Some THOUGHTS on the against list:

  • Under to knots you can use a light air headsail made from heavy nylon and with a strong textile rope in the luff and no hanks. This sail is not very common these days but I would use them a couple of times a year for different customers when I was at Hood (15 years) to answer this very question for all the same reasons we are having this discussion.
  • This sail is easy to handle because:
  • Is Nylon so can be “handled” like a spinnaker-Stuffed into a bag, sat on, kids (or adults…)can sleep on it, it can be stuffed into a small space, it need not be treated with the care of a Dacron sail-I.E. always folded up and so on. It is inexpensive both in capital cost AND compared to the VALUE of it. It can be used as a reaching sail in more wind at wider apparent wind angles.
  • It is light,  so fills in very light air.
  • The next sail-the Jib-Can be already hanked on. This Nylon sail, being set free-flying, can readily be dropped and pushed down the fore hatch and the jib hoisted in less than one minute most of the time.
  • You may be able to sell your furler and so recoup some of the costs…

All of this assumes that you have a larger headsail now for very light air. I do not know either way….. If the only sail you have is the sail on the self-tacker then I submit to you that this hank on jib offer a lot of benefits.

Finally while looking on the web for pictures of an Avance 36, I saw a 33 for sale and it is rigged with only a self tacking Jib and hanks….. And the pictures of it on the mooring showed the sail hanked on and stowed in a cover like the mainsail.