Do you miss all those headsails ?

[Guest]

I have to admit that I am a headsail fanatic - my latest count is 7 (Bermudaman by the way).

Don't you Rollermen miss em even a bit ?

You know, - when your decision was based on the forecast and gut reaction as to what you would bung up for the day? And you were proved right or wrong ?

Did you have a favourite ? Most seemed to and do you still have some that you can't bear to chuck out ? Would you ever go back ?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Yes

There's no doubt the roller furler is a compromise, so it's often not the optimum sail to hang up - too heavy for light airs, an awful shape when furled in heavier breezes, but oh so handy.

I've already bought a Number 3 in a solent cut which hanks on to a removable innner forestay and which works very nicely from about 18-25 kts apparent. Maybe it needs a smaller brother to bridge the gap to the storm jib.

I'm planning to do the rounds of sailmakers in the winter to get a price on a light number one which would work up to about 10kts apparent set in the luff groove. It would have to come down to be replaced by the roller genoa above that wind speed and I don't relish the foredeck work, but it would be so nice to be have a good upwind sail in light airs.

 

[Guest]

Absolutely. I still think that headsails put away in the bag when not in use last a lot longer than those left hanging up there in all weathers. A visit to any marina usually reveals at least one piece of flapping rag blowing out from a roller.
How can you have a "ghoster" made of the same weight material as your storm jib - to take it to the extremes?

 

[Roberto]

Sure!

I have not found yet a way to sleep comfortably over a rollerfurled headsail

 

[jamesjermain]

No

I carry a spare No 1 genny, storm jib and a Solent jib when racing two-handed, plus two spinnakers. Only the spinnakers actually get used. When cruising all but the storm jib and general purpose spinny go ashore and I reclaim my forecabin. I also probably sail rather faster on average cos I have the right amount of sail up and am considerably less tired, more alert and therefore a better seaman as a result.

JJ

 

[billmacfarlane]

Not in the slightest .

The thought of going back to changing headsails in the middle of the night in a rising wind after hanging on to a larger sail for too long doesn't appeal in the slightest. I'll stick to roller furling gear on the genny thanks all the same.

 

[Endymion]

No and Yes!!

Without a shadow of doubt from a family cruising point of view, especially with a young family, the roller headsail is a godsend. The joy of taking a couple of rolls in when it pipes up a bit, rather than struggling with getting the No 1 down and the No 2 up whilst SWMBO endeavours to keep a steady course and an eye on offspring. OK, so the roller headsail won't set as well as a hanked on or luff foil sail, but for family cruising around the UK, does being able to point that extra couple of degrees REALLY matter? The only rider I would add is that there should be provision for a detachable inner forestay for the Storm Jib to be rigged on.

From a serious racing point of view, why would ANYONE even consider a roller headsail rather than a decent wardrobe from No 1 right through to Storm? Yes, from a budgetary point of view I can understand the appeal of a general purpose roller furling sail...just don't expect to win an awful lot when the wind gets up!

What do we have? A roller No1 and roller No2 and a hank on Storm Jib, and yes, we do change down or up from the No1 to No2 as needed.

Endy

 

[Guest]

Yes.

Having raced around the world in the last BT Global Challenge and been a memeber of the fordeck crew. I learned to love going up there in all conditions - there is nothing to compare to the exhilaration of changing a headsail deep down in the Southern Ocean in a 80knt screamer - Just a pure adrenline rush.

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Nope
As a kid I used to sleep in the forepeak and have wet sailbags dumped on me.

...It was like that when i found it!

 

[EdEssery]

Re: No and Yes!!

I bought an MG C27 at the end of last season. It came with a self tacking jib and No. 1 and No. 2 Genoas which set on a TuffLuff and finally a hanked Storm Jib.

At the London Boat show I was on the point of purchasing a furler and furling genoa but was talked out of it by an expert on this class of boat who said "a furler would spoil the whole character of the boat" I took his advice and am so glad I did. When the wind gets up into the high teens I simply drop the genoa and hoist the self tacker - working the foredeck in this wind is no real issue. As the wind increases not only do I have a more efficient sail, I don't have to worry about genoa sheets either - the boat is far more manoevurable and, I would argue, safer as a result.

The only problem I have is the Storm Jib - it's on hanks and clearly won't go on a forestay with a foil. There is no inner forestay. What does the panel think of making the spinnaker halliard off on the forepeak winching it up tight and then hoisting the storm jib hanked on to it?

Ed

Skybird K8452Y

 

[LadyInBed]

No. OK if you are crew heavy, but if it's wife and I or me on my tod, I am quite happy with a R/R.
But I do draw the line at an in mast furling main!!

God - I wish it would stop raining!

 

[Mirelle]

Try a gaff cutter....

Yes we have a roller jib - but it's on a Wykeham Martin gear, so it furls, instantly, rather than reefing slowly and painfully. To reduce area, roll it, drop it, stow it (two snap shackles and a Brummel hitch) and replace with the pre-rolled small jib.

Two headsails so far...

The staysail has two rows of reef points - but we also have a reaching staysail and a ghoster - ghoster is same size as reacher but much lighter.

Five headsails....

Then we have a monstrous ghoster jib that fills the whole foretriangle and a bit over.

Make that six.....

Love them all! But I would HATE a roller reefing headsail. I am amazed at what hard work to sail these modern rigs with winches galore are - boom staysail and roller jib for me!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Try a gaff cutter....

And then there are the topsails!

 

[Mirelle]

Spi halyard will stretch

and so the storm jib would do no good, if hanked to it, I reckon.

 

[Mirelle]

Only two of those

Blue = Jackyarder = big, and quite "exciting to handle!"

Red = Jib Header = tame.

.....and then there's the watersail....

Old Gaffers racing is compulsive!

 

[Jeremy_W]

Re: Spi halyard will stretch

It's the tightness of the storm jib luff that matters. The spi halyard is really just a guide for the storm jib. You see this all the time on racing dinghies. The moment they set the jib up to full tension the forestay tension is redundant. On "Sgt Pepper" Humperdinck has a detachable inner forestay about three inches aft of the normal forestay with a highfield lever which is a great set-up.

Try using a multi-purchase at the tack of the storm jib. That gives you 4-1 mechanical advantage. Then lead the tail back to one of the genny winches: 96-1 mechanical advantage - the storm jib luff will go bar taut however slack the spi halyard is.

 

[Endy]

Unless...

...your spinny halyard is Kevlar or similar, DON'T DO IT!! It will stretch like crazy, and the very last thing you want in conditions where you are likely to need a storm jib, is having the luff sagging away over the leeward bow! Don't compromise, get a proper inner forestay set up this winter, you will feel MUCH happier with the right tool for the job!

 

[charles_reed]

Re: No and Yes!!

Whilst I have a roller gear and use it, I still find a lot of use for the solent (windward work in F3-F6) and the working jib (F5 and above).
The solent involves taking off the roller genoa and is a conventional sail, but the yankee sets on the roller and doubles up as the storm jib (the actual storm jib would be far too large for genuine >F8).
The most useful sail is the GP radial spinnaker, though the asymmetric genniker is great in light reaching winds.
Mind you, unlike you short-handed lot I don't (on passagemaking) have to put up with the wife - she travels by public transport and I single hand.

So far she got to Brest 24 hours late and the poor girls at Air France were hiding rather than being accused of mislaying someone's wife (no passport).
She's waited at Lorient for 6 hours whilst I battled enjoyed 54 knots W coming into the harbour in the dark.
She's had to transfer to San Xavier rather than Palma de Mallorca, when the mast broke
She's enjoyed a B&B at St Marys for 24 hours whilst I bucked F7SW across Cardigan Bay and then W5 down from Fishguard going to calm by Longships.

 

[claymore]

It had been blowing for a day or two and the sea was still quite big but the wind had dropped. We left the Isle of Man at around 05:30 to catch the tide at Fleetwood and on upriver to our berth there - 12 hours later.
We had enough up with the number 2 and were going along nicely but the wind was significantly less once we were clear of the Island and after much deliberation we decided that the trusty old No1 was needed to give us the shove through the waves.
In the 20 minutes that followed I suffered bruised ribs, damaged pride, loss of patience and temper and permanent right knee damage as my nimble 13 stone did a one point knee landing on the foredeck cleat. Give me dial a sail anyday thanks!

regards
Claymore

 

[Guest]

Re: Try a gaff cutter....

Now you're talking! There's nothing so exhilarating as going out to the end of the bowsprit to recover a flogging jibtops'l in a blow. That dunking in cold salt water cannot be bettered! And the rollermen don't know the delights of setting a fisherman staysail in a gaff schooner with an inexperienced crew.