When to use this small mainsail?

[Cookie Jar]

Hi everyone,

My boat came with a pretty impressive sail wardrobe with at least 2 sets of every sail (including 2 spinnakers), but the smaller Main is puzzling me.

The size difference is really considerable to think it is not just "another Main" and it certainly is not just a sail brought from another boat (unless they went to the trouble of getting the sailnumber in that one as well), so... can you give me a hint into a situation where I might actually use it?

Here they are:

Mainsail


Smaller mainsail


Thanking you in advance,
Cookie Jar

 

[cmedsailor]

Storm trysail?

 

[TLouth7]

What sort and size of boat is this?

It is possible to get various sizes of sail for some boats (e.g. training sails for wayfarer), but then your large main appears to have a reef making this less likely. Is the luff or foot length the same?

 

[Poignard]

I wondered if it was a storm trysail but enlarging the photo shows it to have battens and reef points which you would not expect. Also the canvas would be of a heavier grade. Perhaps it is some kind of intermediate sail; something between a full mainsail and a trysail.

 

[lw395]

Depends what the boat is, but some racers keep a small main for delivery trips.
Sometimes if you are cruising a racing boat just two up, a smaller main is convenient and saves wear on the racing sails.

 

[jwilson]

Looks like a ( Vagabond ? ) dinghy main. Lots of older dinghies used to have two sets of sails as part of the design - "racing" and "cruising". The Enterprise I owned did, and the cruising set made singlehanding possible even on a pretty windy day. The more I got used to the boat though the more I tried to sail even singlehanded with the bigger rig.

 

[Cookie Jar]

I wondered if it was a storm trysail but enlarging the photo shows it to have battens and reef points which you would not expect. Also the canvas would be of a heavier grade. Perhaps it is some kind of intermediate sail; something between a full mainsail and a trysail.

It is a slightly heavier grade, yes, but as noted already it does have reefing points and battens, so I really do not know what to make of this. The foot is definitely shorter, but not the luff.

The boat is a Dehler Varianta 65, not a dinghy.

 

[Dan Tribe]

Certainly looks like a Vagabond dinghy mainsail. But I thought they were gunter rigged and the use of "curtain track " luff slides rules that out. They also suggest a wooden mast, unlikely to fit an aluminium one.
Perhaps the previous owner also had an older dinghy or maybe bought it at a boat jumble because "it was a bargain".

 

[TLouth7]

I suspect it is just a heavy weather (or short-handed) sail. A sail with full length luff but reduced area should give more drive than a reefed main, and I guess on a yacht of that size would not be too much effort to rig on windy days.

 

[Poignard]

Another possibility is that there has been a re-designed sail plan.

This happened with the Twister class where the mainsail foot was shortened to counteract excessive weather helm.

 

[Cookie Jar]

Another possibility is that there has been a re-designed sail plan.

This happened with the Twister class where the mainsail foot was shortened to counteract excessive weather helm.

Could be... but I don´t think so, as mine is the only Varianta 65 I have seen so far (and I´ve seen plenty) with this smaller main... All the ones I have seen and all pictures I can find have the "standard" main.
well, too many sails is definitely not a problem , but i´d really like to know what it was, so I can use it in the best possible way.

Thanks again guys!

 

[solent clown]

all you need is a very large triangular dinner table. Sailing themed feasts with the perfect tablecloth

 

[Cookie Jar]

all you need is a very large triangular dinner table. Sailing themed feasts with the perfect tablecloth

 

[jac]

Can previous owner not help?

My thought would be that it's designed as the go to sail for slightly higher wind speeds - in the same way that with hanked on jibs you woukd change down from a No 1 to a No2.

So blowy day - hoist this one rather than the reefed "normal" main.

Did the PO trailer sail her or otherwise not keep the sails bent on all the season? If he was in the habit of removing them after every sail then it makes some sense to choose the right sail to bend on every time you go out.

Bit of a pain though for those that leave sails there all season!

 

[Cookie Jar]

Can previous owner not help?

My thought would be that it's designed as the go to sail for slightly higher wind speeds - in the same way that with hanked on jibs you woukd change down from a No 1 to a No2.

So blowy day - hoist this one rather than the reefed "normal" main.

Did the PO trailer sail her or otherwise not keep the sails bent on all the season? If he was in the habit of removing them after every sail then it makes some sense to choose the right sail to bend on every time you go out.

Bit of a pain though for those that leave sails there all season!

Not anymore he (actually she) can´t.
But I know for a fact that the sails were coming down and being folded after each daysail.

Thanks for the input. I believe I will use it that way when I go out alone and it´s blowing a bit more instead of reefing the standard one. Thanks again!

 

[TLouth7]

My thought would be that it's designed as the go to sail for slightly higher wind speeds - in the same way that with hanked on jibs you woukd change down from a No 1 to a No2.

So blowy day - hoist this one rather than the reefed "normal" main.

I think this is it. In my experience other Dehler models tend to be quite flighty, and with the masthead rig it is impossible to fully flatten the main. As a result you may find that with the full size main you need to reef early.

Is there a strop at the clew / is the outhaul easily adjustable?

 

[jwilson]

Only glanced at the VA on the sail, didn' t look in detail. Of course not a dinghy, a small trailer-sailer type yacht. Could be a previous owner was of a nervous disposition and wanted a smaller rig.... Or just liked sailing well - a smaller suit of sails is a lot more efficient than reefing, and on a boat this size it's easy enough to take sails off every time you leave the boat, and choose which you want every time you leave the mooring.

 

[Steve The Seagull]

Is it smaller in both the luff and foot??

There can be all sorts of reasons a boat ends up with a smaller mainsail, if the boat was ever raced it could of been to meet a rating or handicap, or the a sail brought across from another boat as heavy airs mainsail.

Before committing it to being a heavy airs sail put both up consecutively and have a look at their flying shape, as even if it is smaller if it is very deep and powerful it might not be as good a sail as the other mainsail or conversely it might actually have a better flying shape than the bigger mainsail and be a better sail for all round use.

Enjoy your boat!