Parasailor
- Thread starter TiggerToo
- Start date
tcm
...
i've just bought one, and not in the least a gimmick imho. Fab downwind sail. Mine is 156sqm for 50' catamaran. Good for when other sails get a bit hopeless - at more than 130degrees off bow. At 100 degrees and/or less than 9kts they get depowered and in fact sailing to 100degrees is how you'd get it down.
In 25kts true wind we can get up to double digits SOG, and towards 35kts get instantaneous surfs to 20kts. I took it down in 37 kts, getting a bit lairy and not easy to steer. You just fly the thing on spi and two sheets, an additional guyrope can be used from each clew to help fix the thing so it doesn't wander across the bows so much.
They recommend all sorts of v hi-spec spectra guys and sheets, completely unnec imho, and one of their ideas - to have two guys per clew actually spliced together and then put on a snap shackle sounds blimmin dangerous to have lumps of metal flying about.
Guys/sheets should be twice the length of the boat, but there's not a lots of shock loading cos of the hole. I fly the thing high and shift the wear points every hour.
I orderd from US, think it cost 7kUSD
In 25kts true wind we can get up to double digits SOG, and towards 35kts get instantaneous surfs to 20kts. I took it down in 37 kts, getting a bit lairy and not easy to steer. You just fly the thing on spi and two sheets, an additional guyrope can be used from each clew to help fix the thing so it doesn't wander across the bows so much.
They recommend all sorts of v hi-spec spectra guys and sheets, completely unnec imho, and one of their ideas - to have two guys per clew actually spliced together and then put on a snap shackle sounds blimmin dangerous to have lumps of metal flying about.
Guys/sheets should be twice the length of the boat, but there's not a lots of shock loading cos of the hole. I fly the thing high and shift the wear points every hour.
I orderd from US, think it cost 7kUSD
lw395
Well-Known Member
If there was a performance advantage, it would be used in racing.
I can only imagine it will stretch hideously when it's done a few miles. The vertical lines across the slot must concentrate the load in the fabric above and below.
The blurb seems to be about running directly down wind, which might make it handy on a trade wind sailing, less so for general use.
If its anything other than a novelty, they need to get it reviewed by the comics.
I can only imagine it will stretch hideously when it's done a few miles. The vertical lines across the slot must concentrate the load in the fabric above and below.
The blurb seems to be about running directly down wind, which might make it handy on a trade wind sailing, less so for general use.
If its anything other than a novelty, they need to get it reviewed by the comics.
tcm
...
think the comics *did* do a review.
Not an ultra performance sail - the hole loses outright performance against a real spinnaker but with hole-with-wing makes it good for cruising when you don't want to be ready with another sail after 10-30 minutes - you (well, I) want the thing to be up preferably all day and maybe all night - so fine with gusts etc.
Quite right, tradewind sailing item.
Not an ultra performance sail - the hole loses outright performance against a real spinnaker but with hole-with-wing makes it good for cruising when you don't want to be ready with another sail after 10-30 minutes - you (well, I) want the thing to be up preferably all day and maybe all night - so fine with gusts etc.
Quite right, tradewind sailing item.
lw395
Well-Known Member
tcm, how heavy is your boat?
Do you just use this to sail dead downwind?
I would think 150sqm of anything would take you down wind at 'double figures' in 25kts?
What weight of fabric is it?
Do you use it with main or no main?
On a cat what is the disadvantage of a conventional 1.5oz kite in those conditions? presuming you live without the pole etc.
I'm aware of the advantages of slots etc, for example in paragliders, but they only have to work with one direction of airflow. I'm curious about this...
Cheers,
Do you just use this to sail dead downwind?
I would think 150sqm of anything would take you down wind at 'double figures' in 25kts?
What weight of fabric is it?
Do you use it with main or no main?
On a cat what is the disadvantage of a conventional 1.5oz kite in those conditions? presuming you live without the pole etc.
I'm aware of the advantages of slots etc, for example in paragliders, but they only have to work with one direction of airflow. I'm curious about this...
Cheers,
ChrisE
Well-Known Member
rhinorhino of this parish has one as well, he sails his on a HR36.
tcm
...
boat weight 12 approx tonnes
It's fine in wind 135-180 degrees ie, pretty much downwind. I'll use it a primary sail gib-canaries and east to west transat. On w-east only used it 2 days up to and through gib straits
PBO did an article April 2008.
The idea of the hole is that air flows through the hole and hence reduces rolling and reduces tendency to blow out the sail.
The sails doesn't work well with mainsail up(probably this is main reason why no good as racing sail) as well as the fact that it is probably heavier than conventional spi (reason 2 for no good as racing sail)
dunno exact weight of material, sorry.
Spinnaker would risk blowout - good for outright high speed, no good for slinging up with new-to-this boat crew and then doing something else for a few hours.
Actually, on many cats these days, they are flippin useles downwind due to lack of backstays, hence backswept shrouds, hence limited ability to push boom over, hence may as well drop main with wind more than 140degrees - it just blanks the foresail. Big big mainsail pushed over anyway would be bit flaky downwind.
The parasailor should be flown high - i found as high as poss seemed good - releasing spi a few metres and having clews of parasailor maybe 5 -10 metres above deck level.
from their info:
Main benefits of the Parasailor:
The wing acts like an airplane wing and creates a vertical lifting moment which lifts the bow out of the water instead of dragging it through the water (like a traditional spinnaker).
Because the inflated wing is acting like an “I” beam the sail becomes a “self-tending spinnaker” – what this means is that you can set the sheet and as the wind moves around the luff or leech may collapse but the wing will still stay open so that when the wind shifts around the sail will correct itself. This is ideal for cruisers on downwind legs with one or two crew.
The hole in the sail acts like a “pressure release valve” and so any gusts will take the path of least resistance and vent out through the sail reducing the chance of broaching.
When raising the sail it immediately “assumes the correct shape” unlike traditional kites which can flap around and get tangled. This is because the wind blows through and inflates the wing which then acts like a rigid “I” beam that keeps the sail open and up.
This sail can be used from 80° wind angle to 180° and from 4 knots of wind to 25. So it is the only downwind sail the boat needs. (my note - not got the thing to sail acros the wind yet - it is increasingly flaky and less stable les than 100degrees)
The sail is symmetrical however it can be used with or without a pole (we recommend no pole as the wing replaces the functions of the pole)
pm me an email add i can fwd you the pbo article
It's fine in wind 135-180 degrees ie, pretty much downwind. I'll use it a primary sail gib-canaries and east to west transat. On w-east only used it 2 days up to and through gib straits
PBO did an article April 2008.
The idea of the hole is that air flows through the hole and hence reduces rolling and reduces tendency to blow out the sail.
The sails doesn't work well with mainsail up(probably this is main reason why no good as racing sail) as well as the fact that it is probably heavier than conventional spi (reason 2 for no good as racing sail)
dunno exact weight of material, sorry.
Spinnaker would risk blowout - good for outright high speed, no good for slinging up with new-to-this boat crew and then doing something else for a few hours.
Actually, on many cats these days, they are flippin useles downwind due to lack of backstays, hence backswept shrouds, hence limited ability to push boom over, hence may as well drop main with wind more than 140degrees - it just blanks the foresail. Big big mainsail pushed over anyway would be bit flaky downwind.
The parasailor should be flown high - i found as high as poss seemed good - releasing spi a few metres and having clews of parasailor maybe 5 -10 metres above deck level.
from their info:
Main benefits of the Parasailor:
The wing acts like an airplane wing and creates a vertical lifting moment which lifts the bow out of the water instead of dragging it through the water (like a traditional spinnaker).
Because the inflated wing is acting like an “I” beam the sail becomes a “self-tending spinnaker” – what this means is that you can set the sheet and as the wind moves around the luff or leech may collapse but the wing will still stay open so that when the wind shifts around the sail will correct itself. This is ideal for cruisers on downwind legs with one or two crew.
The hole in the sail acts like a “pressure release valve” and so any gusts will take the path of least resistance and vent out through the sail reducing the chance of broaching.
When raising the sail it immediately “assumes the correct shape” unlike traditional kites which can flap around and get tangled. This is because the wind blows through and inflates the wing which then acts like a rigid “I” beam that keeps the sail open and up.
This sail can be used from 80° wind angle to 180° and from 4 knots of wind to 25. So it is the only downwind sail the boat needs. (my note - not got the thing to sail acros the wind yet - it is increasingly flaky and less stable les than 100degrees)
The sail is symmetrical however it can be used with or without a pole (we recommend no pole as the wing replaces the functions of the pole)
pm me an email add i can fwd you the pbo article
lw395
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I will read the article in the club with a beer.
I assume you are saying a useful apparent wind angle of 100deg plus?
Regretfully I don't get the chance to do that kind of distance right now.
Cheers.
I assume you are saying a useful apparent wind angle of 100deg plus?
Regretfully I don't get the chance to do that kind of distance right now.
Cheers.
redbreast
Well-Known Member
Hi I had a great opportunity to try these sails out in various wind strenghs, sadly only touching a 4 so no great force. We were in the solent 2 week ends ago with Stuart from Sea Teach on a Beneteau 38.
The Parasail was first out of the bag and in light winds better suited. The Parasailor performed well enough but came into its own in the slightly stronger winds and certainly is a crowd puller, we eased passed most boats and didnt put up another sail all day, we did cheat at one stage by motoring up wind, but hey ho good time to grab a sandwich and a cup of tea. Interestingly I was skeptical about the ability of these new high tech sails, but came away very impressed. The easy snuffer that Stuart ran with the system worked very well only faultering slightly when it came to pulling down the collection point where sail meets wing, trying to compress the huge amount of air from the extended wing which on the Parasailor projects out in front of the sail by some 5' maybe more. We used no spinaker pole all day but fitted a Tacker to the furled genoa which worked very well. I had never flown a spinaker before but have helmed quite a few boats, but we managed to carry the Parasailor with the tacker 60 to 70 degrees to the wind maybe even closer at times. We were 7 people on board and in 4.7 knots of wind we were getting 4.5 knots, flatish sea. To gybe the Parasailor was easy enough, no drama and apart from Stuart on board and the owner no one else had sailed with this set up before. My only negatives on the Parasailor, especially in these days of recession is the cost of one of these bunnies, compared to a cruising chute or spinaker, very expensive and im not sure for our yacht that I can justify the high asking price.
But if someone out there has a second hand Parasailor at a decent price I would bite his or hers hand off. Im told i would require a Parasailor 8 or 9 which is 170 sq mtrs of very cleverly designed sail.
A great day on the water !
cheers all. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
The Parasail was first out of the bag and in light winds better suited. The Parasailor performed well enough but came into its own in the slightly stronger winds and certainly is a crowd puller, we eased passed most boats and didnt put up another sail all day, we did cheat at one stage by motoring up wind, but hey ho good time to grab a sandwich and a cup of tea. Interestingly I was skeptical about the ability of these new high tech sails, but came away very impressed. The easy snuffer that Stuart ran with the system worked very well only faultering slightly when it came to pulling down the collection point where sail meets wing, trying to compress the huge amount of air from the extended wing which on the Parasailor projects out in front of the sail by some 5' maybe more. We used no spinaker pole all day but fitted a Tacker to the furled genoa which worked very well. I had never flown a spinaker before but have helmed quite a few boats, but we managed to carry the Parasailor with the tacker 60 to 70 degrees to the wind maybe even closer at times. We were 7 people on board and in 4.7 knots of wind we were getting 4.5 knots, flatish sea. To gybe the Parasailor was easy enough, no drama and apart from Stuart on board and the owner no one else had sailed with this set up before. My only negatives on the Parasailor, especially in these days of recession is the cost of one of these bunnies, compared to a cruising chute or spinaker, very expensive and im not sure for our yacht that I can justify the high asking price.
But if someone out there has a second hand Parasailor at a decent price I would bite his or hers hand off. Im told i would require a Parasailor 8 or 9 which is 170 sq mtrs of very cleverly designed sail.
A great day on the water !
cheers all. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Cornishman
Well-Known Member
You would have noticed as you motored past Saltash SC last Thursday evening if any of the IRC fleet were using one!
Mike OOD
Mike OOD
tcm
...
well yes i was saying 100degrees - but seems others (redb in his post) can do better!
mcframe
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
rhinorhino of this parish has one as well, he sails his on a HR36.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oi! - He races it on the HR - as the bigger boats we passed (sans main) between St Cats and Bembridge Ledge on RTI might have seen /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Oh, you can take 15 mins to sort out the pole (bust tripper) when gybing and it'll fly happily on just the sheets...
Not as much foredeck/afterguard action as a conventional spini - the snuffer would make two-handed launches & recovery simpler (& race start will we/won't we? launches).
Good for ~130 degrees, can be rigged from a strop.
Stability means it can be flown (on a heavy boat) beyond the point when (non-loony) J-Boats have to dump their asymmetrics.
I'd quite like one if only SWMBO wasn't hassling me for a new cooker - OK the oven & grill are bust, but both burners still work - she'll be after a fridge next...
rhinorhino of this parish has one as well, he sails his on a HR36.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oi! - He races it on the HR - as the bigger boats we passed (sans main) between St Cats and Bembridge Ledge on RTI might have seen /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Oh, you can take 15 mins to sort out the pole (bust tripper) when gybing and it'll fly happily on just the sheets...
Not as much foredeck/afterguard action as a conventional spini - the snuffer would make two-handed launches & recovery simpler (& race start will we/won't we? launches).
Good for ~130 degrees, can be rigged from a strop.
Stability means it can be flown (on a heavy boat) beyond the point when (non-loony) J-Boats have to dump their asymmetrics.
I'd quite like one if only SWMBO wasn't hassling me for a new cooker - OK the oven & grill are bust, but both burners still work - she'll be after a fridge next...
