Genoa size?

[mattonthesea]

Thanks all. I did ask on the Rival page but I'd ask here for knowledge from a broader base. After all there are plenty of other head sail driven boats from that era.

Having thought through the theory of accelerating the wind through the slot I've come to a conclusion that the overlap is only worth reaching the widest part of the mainsail (forgotten the term) foil shape. After that there will be no more acceleration. Happy to be corrected

So I think I'll go for 120%. We've got a cruising chute for lighter airs.

But you've also made me think: we have a North. 1 in the attic somewhere and maybe a No. 2 as well! They are both foil luffs IIRC. Maybe one of them would work as a staysail if I fitted (could afford) an inner foil.

Hmmm

 

[potentillaCO32]

But you've also made me think: we have a North. 1 in the attic somewhere and maybe a No. 2 as well! They are both foil luffs IIRC. Maybe one of them would work as a staysail if I fitted (could afford) an inner foil.

Hmmm

For your staysail you could get your North sail converted to hank on very cheaply by a sailmaker. You could make the stay for the staysail very cheaply yourself as well, making it removable.

 

[geem]

Thanks all. I did ask on the Rival page but I'd ask here for knowledge from a broader base. After all there are plenty of other head sail driven boats from that era.

Having thought through the theory of accelerating the wind through the slot I've come to a conclusion that the overlap is only worth reaching the widest part of the mainsail (forgotten the term) foil shape. After that there will be no more acceleration. Happy to be corrected

So I think I'll go for 120%. We've got a cruising chute for lighter airs.

But you've also made me think: we have a North. 1 in the attic somewhere and maybe a No. 2 as well! They are both foil luffs IIRC. Maybe one of them would work as a staysail if I fitted (could afford) an inner foil.

Hmmm

The difference between a jib on a furler and hank on is huge. Most of the time, you cannot be bothered to use the hank on sail. Too much hassle. Twin headsail furlers is a game changer for sailing performance and convenience

 

[Minerva]

The difference between a jib on a furler and hank on is huge. Most of the time, you cannot be bothered to use the hank on sail. Too much hassle. Twin headsail furlers is a game changer for sailing performance and convenience

I’m having this internal debate just now. My boat (moody 34) has an emergency forestay for a storm Jib immediately aft of the furling gear - too close to put a staysail on. I’m thinking about on bringing the tack about a meter aft to allow a staysail for short tacking.

Question is whether I keep it removable with the jumbo high field lever so tacking the 130% Genoa is still easy. That means hoiking out the staysail from under a bunk, rigging up the stay and hoisting at the mast. (Plus invariably putting a wet sail away in the forepeak) means it’ll be a pain.

Or… do I go the whole hog and put it on a furler which is more complexity, and cost for something that might not have enough drive to be useful…

 

[geem]

I’m having this internal debate just now. My boat (moody 34) has an emergency forestay for a storm Jib immediately aft of the furling gear - too close to put a staysail on. I’m thinking about on bringing the tack about a meter aft to allow a staysail for short tacking.

Question is whether I keep it removable with the jumbo high field lever so tacking the 130% Genoa is still easy. That means hoiking out the staysail from under a bunk, rigging up the stay and hoisting at the mast. (Plus invariably putting a wet sail away in the forepeak) means it’ll be a pain.

Or… do I go the whole hog and put it on a furler which is more complexity, and cost for something that might not have enough drive to be useful…

We have a 2ft gap between our furlers. In light winds I can tack the 130% genoa through the gap, but it might mean me going on deck to assist it through. Our genoa is 700sqft. The jib is 300sqft so just twice the size of our storm jib, but it's incredible how going up wind, I can hang on to the genoa with the toerail dipping at 21kts apparent, furl the genoa away and set the jib and achieve the same speed, better pointing angle and more upright and comfortable boat. As the wind continues to rise, the performance advantage of the small sail in dramatic.
If I want to sail into an anchorage, we use the jib as its super easy and fast to tack. It can also be furled away rapidly.
Fitting the inner furler is one of the best improvements we have made to the boat. It a,so means the genoa does ever get reefed up wind so it gets an easier life. Th jib is a tough, triple stitched strong sail that in reality, will be our storm sail. Who ever fits a storm jib?

 

[Sea Change]

The difference between a jib on a furler and hank on is huge. Most of the time, you cannot be bothered to use the hank on sail. Too much hassle. Twin headsail furlers is a game changer for sailing performance and convenience

Twin furlers is not without its drawbacks.
Having previously had a boat with a removable inner stay and hank on sails, and now a boat with twin furlers, I would say it's a not a simple question of one being better than the other.

On the previous boat, which was 33ft, the hank on sails were a manageable size and weight. Setting up the stay wasn't too tricky either. And we used the boat for coastal sailing. So on balance, the removable stay was the correct choice for that boat. The majority of the time we were using the furling headsail and with the stay stowed, tacking was a breeze.

Our current boat is 47ft, and used for offshore passages. I find that tacking the genoa always requires at least a partial furl. It's a lot more work. But we rarely short tack so it's a compromise that I can live with. And setting up and using hank-on sails on a removable stay would be pretty challenging on a boat that size.

 

[mattonthesea]

The two parts I'm missing are a staysail furler and a staysail halyard. Dinghy inflation would be a bit tricky though unless I took out a mortgage for an Highfield lever!

 

[potentillaCO32]

The two parts I'm missing are a staysail furler and a staysail halyard. Dinghy inflation would be a bit tricky though unless I took out a mortgage for an Highfield lever!

You couldnt use your spinnaker halyard for your staysail halyard?

 

[geem]

Twin furlers is not without its drawbacks.
Having previously had a boat with a removable inner stay and hank on sails, and now a boat with twin furlers, I would say it's a not a simple question of one being better than the other.

On the previous boat, which was 33ft, the hank on sails were a manageable size and weight. Setting up the stay wasn't too tricky either. And we used the boat for coastal sailing. So on balance, the removable stay was the correct choice for that boat. The majority of the time we were using the furling headsail and with the stay stowed, tacking was a breeze.

Our current boat is 47ft, and used for offshore passages. I find that tacking the genoa always requires at least a partial furl. It's a lot more work. But we rarely short tack so it's a compromise that I can live with. And setting up and using hank-on sails on a removable stay would be pretty challenging on a boat that size.

I think the convenience of tacking with two furlers depends on how it's set up. Cutter rigs manage fine because of the wider gap between furlers. Our solent set up has a wider gap than you often see. It was done like this by design. We don't have our inner furler connecting to the mast at the top. It connects 2m down and we have runners. This allows us to achieve proper rig tuning that I don't believe is so easy to achieve if you both furlers connect at the masthead.

 

[ashtead]

If you go for a separate jib the real plus is to make it self tacking -makes tacking up the Solent easy for the sole helm when others are below etc. add a bow spirit for light airs sail if required . The tacking with the larger Genoa does require furling in but we rarely tack short distance tacks with Genoa so not real issue.