2 headsails on one furler?

Kelpie said:
Our boat came with a twin groove furler and three genoas. I am hoping to use two of them as a downwind rig when we set off long distance cruising next year.
The rolling/oscillating comments worry me a bit. How much of a gap do you need between the two sails to reduce this? The hole in the top of a parachute is pretty small... so could a small half-circle be cut out of each luff (leaving the bolt rope intact obviously). I would be unlikely to use these two old genoas for serious upwind work so no problem modifying them.
Maybe it would be easier to use hanked sails with slugs to fit the furler... but I already own the genoas...
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I don't claim extensive experience (see above) but on my boat at least, foresail induced rolling wasn't a problem with both sails in their grooves. I could adjust the sheets to spill wind (loosen them so the sails went forward of the stay in a v. You need long sheets for this!). And reefing them to suit wind and waves while maintaining speed was a doddle. Offbeat is relatively heavy and conservatively rigged for her size (10.3m with a sail area over displacement of 12.5) which probably helps. The sails are high-footed Yankees, which will reduce downward pressure compared to a low cut genoa (uplift is better than downward pressure.)
My arrangement is with two poles on the mast which is said to provide the leverage to induce rolling. If this develops into a problem for me I'll experiment with a Twistle rig. I'll try the Twistle knot first and, if I need, get the ironmongery made up. But, so far, I'm happy with my low cost set up.
 
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STILL AFLOAT said:
Twin headsails on same fuller is my dream set up for downwind. They can still be used on one tack I believe?

I guess you mean " Same Furler " Yes it sounds Utopian.....however, the chafe, on the insides of both sails, makes them rather useless, in very short time. I have heard the same story, in numerous places from Illes de Salut, to Trinidad , Bonaire & beyond.
Best 2 options = 1 roller furled & a loose cruising chute.
Or 2 roller furling headsails, Some mount them , Side By Side, some mount them One Behind The Other.
Up to you to read the reviews & choose, but the 2 on one, is a no no, especially with both sails on one side !
Whatever you choose, please let us know, how you got on ! As the Lady said, you still need twin poles .
Good Luck
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See Sailing Bora Bora, they do it all the time Sailing SV Bora Bora
 
Thanks all and just looking at reasonable cost ideas for better downwind sailing.

We have a cruising chute already and using 2 headsails on one furler for downwind is a lot cheaper than having an inner forestay fitted and then furlex etc. Or cheaper than a para sailor.

Any other suggestions?
 
davethedog said:
Thanks all and just looking at reasonable cost ideas for better downwind sailing.

We have a cruising chute already and using 2 headsails on one furler for downwind is a lot cheaper than having an inner forestay fitted and then furlex etc. Or cheaper than a para sailor.

Any other suggestions?
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With twin luff grooves already all you need to try out the twin foresail rig is a second foresail (second hand? Always a few on ebay. The quality and cut isn't too important as a test, at least, but the luff length needs to be close to your current one), two poles or a pole and your boom, and the sheets. Oh, and at least four hours and twenty or thirty miles of searoom downwind to play with it at sea. I first tried mine out in the River Orwell. I nearly ran out of river before I had it set up, then had to do a beam reach for a couple of miles before turning back onto a run into Harwich harbour and the shipping traffic. Not my wisest choice of test grounds!
 
Thanks again and pleased to see this thread has not descended into an argument (as most on here tend to!) and will see about options once this COVID 19 issue is over, as nothing will get done now for a while!
 
Dolphin Sails have a nice video showing how they hoist the second headsail independently of the already hoisted first headsail. They have a block at the top of the foil and a halyard on a line. In this way, the 2nd halyard can be brought down when required.
This has been my plan should I ever do the ARC

TudorSailor
 
Thanks and saw that video form Dolphin sails and that is what we will look at doing if we decide to go down the twin headsail route, although also thinking if we should change our boat for a bigger one (44 to 50 ft range) that has twin headsails etc already.
 
davethedog said:
Looking at improving the downwind performance of our boat and wonder what people's opinions are of us buying an extra headsail (same as current one) and having both on the same furler (we don't have an inner forestay) as needed for downwind sailing?

Cheers
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Twin sails on the forestay, however arranged, is a lot of handling and if the weather changes quickly will leave the boat overpowered. Twin foresails seem to appela on the ARC etc with long periods of stable conditions; for day sailing it can't be worth the effort, even if you have a Furlex or the like with double slots - how will you raise the second sail without the risk of tangling.

Best have an inner stay, removable or not, for a second sail - more control for sure.

PWG
 
Agreed, but the cost is a lot more and our present boat has a B+R rig (without a backstay) so adding an inner forestay is not the easiest thing.
 
Just watching 'Ryan & Sophie''s Atlantic crossing on Youtube. Very rolly conditions, twin headsail rig. I wonder how they would have fared under a different rig? They mentioned that the two boats nearest them were having just as bad a time, but it's hard to take a meaningful comparison from that.

I agree with the comments above about the value of an inner forestay. Our Deb, which was intended to be our bluewater boat, has one, and we use it a lot with a big ghoster for off-wind or light-wind sailing. The Moody which replaces her does not, and has a babystay, but she does have a twin-groove furler, so it seems sensible to look at using that. I'm not ruling out fitting a removable stay, but it's not a minor mod, and we're running out of time before we set off.
 
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