Pros/Cons/Versatility of fractional rigs with self-tacking jibs & Gennaker

[Ceirwan]

There is no reason you cant use a smaller jib on a masthead rig.
My old genoa was a 150%
The new one this year I had made at 125% and is much easier with little difference in speed except for dead downwind when boomed out.
I also have a non overlapping jib which I guess I could set up as a self tacker although with this new jib having two designed reef points I cant see me having to use much any more.

Off the wind in up to 20knts I tend to put the kite up anyway.

Point being just because you have a masthead rig does not mean you have to have a large overlapping genoa.

Obviously it depends on the rig, but a lot of the masthead rigs are the old IOR influenced designs.
On my Sadler, even with the huge Genoa, it needed 12+ knots of wind to really start to get powered up, a smaller genoa whilst easier to handle would have left her absolutely useless in light winds.

On a taller masthead that puts some more sail area in the main this would be less of a problem of course, but having owned 2 masthead boats and 2 fractional boats, for me the fractional has been the better rig.

 

[Javelin]

I'm obviously on the wrong side of this argument judging by the replies so I guess its down to individual preference.

Pretty much all my racing over the past 30 odd years has been with frac rigs, blade jibs and the like.
Pretty much all my cruising has been on masthead rigged boats.

I'm currently lusting over a Pogo 12.50 for my next boat having had a few blasts, so I guess I'd better keep my mouth shut.

 

[rudolph_hart]

I'had IOR masthead boats previously, but now have a 7/8th-rig Dehler 35 & often day-sail single-handed. I still demand like performance & enjoy a good windward thrash. But when cruising with t'missus, she doesn't like her tea spilt.

A tall main (15.25m truck to deck in our case) can still go & point well in gusts by having only the aft 3rd drawing & our 100% jib has been reefed once in 12 years.

Most of the Van De Stadt Dehlers had a jib self-tacker option, but while this makes short tacking a doddle, the setting downwind can be a problem (also clew/track hardware can be noisy). A 100% jib usually sheets through sliding cars on the coachroof top, so doesn't really need a transverse track system, as tacking requires only 10 feet of sheet to be hauled in.

Offwind, I attach a line to the toerail to reduce twist in the top of the jib. Dead downwind, if you have a pole eye set higher up the mast so that the outer end is pointing downwards to the jib clew, you won't need either a pole uphaul or downhaul, as both the leech & foot will be tensioned :encouragement:

As for cruising chute, I 'eBayed' the snuffer it came with and had a 'Top-down' Furler fitted, which made handling the Beast somewhat easier, but it really is too big - 13.6mx7.7m (full masthead to demountable bowsprit) - so rarely gets used .

Just my 10p-worth

 

[dunedin]

IMHO below about 40 foot, a low overlap jib can be tacked very easily by using technique, so doesn't need more than one turn of the winch. It's about carefully holding the right angle after a tack. And much more efficient than a self tacker (most race boats use such low overlap jibs these days).

But a gennaker is quite a hassle to dig out of the locker, set up, hoist and unfurl. Not a quick job short handed. So may get used more than the spinnaker, but much more work than a slightly larger genoa.
NB. Under all options a foam luff on jib/genoa imperative as a first priority

 

[ex-Gladys]

Twin wheels are a necessity on many modern designs and most boats that use twin wheels are better for it. You might object to the wide sterns that necessitate twin wheels, but once the designer has chosen that route, it is inevitable. Open transoms are on the wane as wide sterns allow much more freedom to fit such things as transom gates, drop down transoms and/or storage lockers.

Don't disagree with your logic, but why, oh why do they only fit a single engine control, usually far off to one side...

 

[Tranona]

Money and complexity. Just one of those compromises to show that nothing is perfect. However, not difficult to fit a second set, although guess owners get used to it.

 

[alant]

I know that. Assumed you were being ironic plus my smiley failed to display. Nevertheless, my comment stands judging by the looks of horror when I have suggested a trip forward outside the confines of a marina.

I repeat, a skipper cannot manage crew, if forward of the companionway, doing the job himself.
It's written in stone, part of the Skipper Guild Rules.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

From a single handed perspective I would go for fractional . Too much winch work with masthead
. Great if you have crew and can time things better, although you have more luff length on the wind with masthead and it gets the wind first and clean.

My dream would be fractional , self tacking jib, with a furling cruising chute as well.