Chris 249
Member
I'm looking for some feedback on the rating and performance issues of using a roller furler genoa and a heavy weather jib under IRC. The boat is a J/36, and our sister with the same setup rates a very low .981 despite having an outboard (!) and not a diesel. I'm not looking for a rule bandit, just to find out whether the rating cut will compensate for the performance cut.
We've just bought the boat, which has only cruising sails including a good quality jib furler. I don't really want to go down the route of having a full wardrobe; it's too expensive in cash, crew and in space down below in a boat that is largely for cruising. We also normally sail in a windy area where the other "big" boats are using 120-130% overlaps. Although normally I love short overlap headsails and I have concerns about the sheeting angle of 120-130% sail, I also appreciate the upwind light-air speed of the J/36 and don't want to lose too much speed in conditions in which the boat is probably at its best.
IRC says that I can get an allowance for having a roller furling headsail and a heavy weather jib only. My thinking is that the combination of a #1 with around 120-130% overlap and a max-size heavy weather jib will have a gap of about 45% of the foretriangle area, which is obviously pretty much the same as the gap you normally get when shifting from a standard #1 to a #3. There seem to be some some nice looking "foot reefing" headsails coming out of North and other companies these days; by that I mean not roller-furling ones but ones with alternative higher clew and tack positions and zippers so you can drop the whole sail down, roll the foot up and secure it with a zipper. That should help with bridging the gap.
The J/36 has an unusually stiff mast for a fractional of its era because the mast is a telegraph pole with jumpers, so we have better forestay control than comparable older swept-spreader boats.
Can anyone tell me how such a setup should perform and rate, and the pitfalls with the plan? Also, from what I can see with 36.7s and J/109s, we may get away with an assymetric only - does that sound right? We sail in an area that is often windy to very windy and normally on "round the bay" courses, and I prefer the easier handling of an assy.
I know there's very few J/36s in the UK, but there's a lot more happening with IRC optimising in the UK in this size range than down here in Australia, where neither of the two J/36s has raced IRC. For those who understandably are not aware, they have the same hull, deck and rudder as the J/35 but have a fractional rig and a more luxurious fit out down below.
We've just bought the boat, which has only cruising sails including a good quality jib furler. I don't really want to go down the route of having a full wardrobe; it's too expensive in cash, crew and in space down below in a boat that is largely for cruising. We also normally sail in a windy area where the other "big" boats are using 120-130% overlaps. Although normally I love short overlap headsails and I have concerns about the sheeting angle of 120-130% sail, I also appreciate the upwind light-air speed of the J/36 and don't want to lose too much speed in conditions in which the boat is probably at its best.
IRC says that I can get an allowance for having a roller furling headsail and a heavy weather jib only. My thinking is that the combination of a #1 with around 120-130% overlap and a max-size heavy weather jib will have a gap of about 45% of the foretriangle area, which is obviously pretty much the same as the gap you normally get when shifting from a standard #1 to a #3. There seem to be some some nice looking "foot reefing" headsails coming out of North and other companies these days; by that I mean not roller-furling ones but ones with alternative higher clew and tack positions and zippers so you can drop the whole sail down, roll the foot up and secure it with a zipper. That should help with bridging the gap.
The J/36 has an unusually stiff mast for a fractional of its era because the mast is a telegraph pole with jumpers, so we have better forestay control than comparable older swept-spreader boats.
Can anyone tell me how such a setup should perform and rate, and the pitfalls with the plan? Also, from what I can see with 36.7s and J/109s, we may get away with an assymetric only - does that sound right? We sail in an area that is often windy to very windy and normally on "round the bay" courses, and I prefer the easier handling of an assy.
I know there's very few J/36s in the UK, but there's a lot more happening with IRC optimising in the UK in this size range than down here in Australia, where neither of the two J/36s has raced IRC. For those who understandably are not aware, they have the same hull, deck and rudder as the J/35 but have a fractional rig and a more luxurious fit out down below.