Trade Wind Sailing

[Guest]

A friend is proposing to take his 43-ft Seastream across the Atlantic in the autumn and we got into a technical discussion last night about the most suitable rig for long-distance downwind sailing. I did the crossing a few years ago but we had a squaresail which of course is ideal. Most of the trans-Pacific yachts I met at my home in New Zealand 20 years ago were using twin headsails (ie, like high-cut foresails set on twin forestays with short booms). However, these would be a big investment more appropriate for a round-the-world voyage than just three weeks from the Canaries to the West Indies. So what do most Atlantic voyagers do these days? A standard fore-and-aft rig with a preventer on the boom? Does this cut down on the rolling? Are you sailing on the point of a gybe all the time? Or is the wind pretty much on the stern quarter rather than aft? And if you set a cruising chute during the daytime (my friend has a strong crew) does the rolling cause it collapse? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

An unconventional answer

I have a rotating rig similar to the aerorig so I never need to sail by the lee and my headsail doesn't get blanketed. Not to everyone's taste but it works very well.

 

[Guest]

I can only speak from the experience of my one crossing where we, and it seemed most other people, used a poled out 140% genoa and a main. Both with preventers on blocks led back to the cockpit. This worked on points of sail with the wind +/- 20deg of dead downwind. With roller furling on the headsail, it was a fairly simple matter to control the sail area when the wind rose/fell.

Hope this helps.

Chris Enstone, Rival Spirit