Benneteau 31.7 Foresail - Hank on or Tuffluff

[x25dave]

Hi we race round the cans on the East coast, and recently foredeck crew managed to damage our TuffLuff. Before spending money on a repair/replacement, it has been suggested that a hank-on sail may be better for us, as we seldom have to change sail during a race, merely raise and lower, when swapping to asymmetric, or spinnaker.
One point was that we need to consider weight on the foredeck, often currently there are 2 required, one to pull the sail down, and one to make secure. With a hank on one person could deal with the sail.
Does anyone have experiences to share please?

 

[Lightwave395]

<My view, solo racing - hanks, crewed racing - tuff luff

 

[flaming]

I'd slightly question that you really need 2 people to tame a 31.7's jib... We only really need one on a 32 foot boat.

That said, you've identified the key factors. Weight on the bow vs ease of changing jib. Plus also a slightly improved aero flow over a foil vs hanks. But that's marginal at anything below GP level, and more than offset by 30s of weight on the bow I would think.

Other factor is that if you hoist or lower your jib when any part of your kite is in contact with your forestay, you risk damaging the kite with hanks. You don't with a foil.