Wintering afloat - leave sails on OK?

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JimC

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Following on from the earlier thread on wintering afloat: I'm leaving my own boat afloat in Whitehaven Marina this Winter. The berths at Whitehaven are very sheltered being surrounded by high quaysides. I'd like to leave the sails on in the hope of snatching the occasional sail in Winter when the days are short but I wonder is this advisable? They're fairly new sails, the main is in a stack pack and the genoa has the usual type of UV strip. I guess deterioration due to UV is the main hazard but wonder how much of a threat this can be at Whitehaven in Winter, it's not the sunny Solent. On the other hand I'm sure the loading on the standing rigging will be a lot less with the yacht able to heel in response to gusts of wind, as compared to the situation when she is blocked-up ashore. Any comments or advice from people who regularly winter afloat?
 
JimC said:
Following on from the earlier thread on wintering afloat: I'm leaving my own boat afloat in Whitehaven Marina this Winter. The berths at Whitehaven are very sheltered being surrounded by high quaysides. I'd like to leave the sails on in the hope of snatching the occasional sail in Winter when the days are short but I wonder is this advisable? They're fairly new sails, the main is in a stack pack and the genoa has the usual type of UV strip. I guess deterioration due to UV is the main hazard but wonder how much of a threat this can be at Whitehaven in Winter, it's not the sunny Solent. On the other hand I'm sure the loading on the standing rigging will be a lot less with the yacht able to heel in response to gusts of wind, as compared to the situation when she is blocked-up ashore. Any comments or advice from people who regularly winter afloat?
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In your position I would leave the main on but take down the genoa. UV ain't going to be an issue in the winter, but everything else is.
 
If you know you're not going to sail in winter, it's always good to get the sails off even if that's just to stow them below (we rinse ours off and my dad takes them home to stow in his dry garage). But if you're planning to sail, then I don't think it's that big a problem to leave them on. We're planning to do exactly that this year, as for the first time I don't have any big refit projects planned that render the boat unusable for months at a time.

I would recommend a lashing around the genoa, through, to prevent it coming unrolled and flogging itself to bits if the furling line fails. You can quickly remove this when going out.

Pete
 
Please note that your insurance probably won't cover sails which have been "split by the wind", so if they suffer major damage due to being flogged to death in a storm, you'll have to fork out on replacements. I accept this risk (and make sure the genny is tightly rolled with an extra tie on it as pro recommends) so as to be able to go sailing easily in the winter.
 
I would leave them on. UV will much less than in summer and if you have to bend on sails every time it looks like a nice day you may not bother.

I would always put a sail tie around the Genny. Big difference for winter IMHO is extra mooring lines / chafe and also ensuring that you have ventilation that will keep the boat aired and drain despite potential horizontal rain / driven sleet / snow
 
JimC said:
What's the "everything else" mildew maybe?
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Yes, the main should be ok but the tightly rolled genoa could suffer, particularly if furled wet.

Don't be obsessive about it but if you were not using the boat for a couple of months - maybe between Dec 1st and Feb - it would pay to take it down.
 
What material are the sails?
If they're laminate, I would take them off (certainly the genoa) -> mildew!
If they're Dacron, I would leave them on. Ours are Dacron and have never been off in six years, and don't look any worse for it.
Just make sure the genoa is tightly firled and well tied off.
 
Really cannot see the point in leaving sails on anytime the boat is not in use for a few weeks. At several hundreds of pounds, if not thousands, the only point of leaving them is if you are lazy!

Only takes 20 minutes or so and lets face it, if you are in a hurry you would hardly use sailing as a means of transport.

In my opinion.
 
capnsensible said:
... Only takes 20 minutes or so and lets face it, if you are in a hurry you would hardly use sailing as a means of transport.In my opinion.
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It takes a lot longer than that for me, in fact if I'm on my own I can't do it at all as it takes two to feed the bolt rope of the mainsail and the stack pack simultaneously into the boom. If I had to put the sails on and then take them off each time I wouldn't be sailing at all in the short Winter days.
 
JimC said:
It takes a lot longer than that for me, in fact if I'm on my own I can't do it at all as it takes two to feed the bolt rope of the mainsail and the stack pack simultaneously into the boom. If I had to put the sails on and then take them off each time I wouldn't be sailing at all in the short Winter days.
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Agreed. In fact, I can only get the Genoa on and off myself in virtually a flat calm, when I wouldn't be going sailing anyway. I am considering leaving mine on this winter.
 
capnsensible said:
snipped ---
Only takes 20 minutes or so and lets face it, if you are in a hurry you would hardly use sailing as a means of transport.
In my opinion.
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I put on main, stackpack and genoa on a modern 35-footer this spring on my own (usually have help). It took me well over two hours. Lots of going back and forward, feeding things into slots, setting up reefing lines, adjusting etc. Takes about 30-40 minutes even with help.

For the OP - I'd leave them on, but put extra lashings round both genoa and mainsail - right round the stackpack. Now that does not take long to undo. Make sure there are no nice little gaps in the stackpack at the aft end of the boom for small birds to roost in.
 
I would remove them, in Spanish Waters Curacao, we saw a boat's genoa unfurl and it shredded. Also with a Stack pack it could get some water in and it will get mildew which is a pig to get off. Dettol, recommended by sail companies, will kill it but leaves it black but bleach will damage the threads. Take the main off and you don't have that risk. We always took both off.
 
When leaving my sails on or when exceptional winds are expected I lash my jib by using the spinnaker halyard. I give myself a bit of slack and then wind it in a spiral by flicking it round the jib in sections. the spiral needs to be the opposite way to the furling leech, which to me is clockwise when looking upwards. It is then a simple matter to tighten the line and deal with the extra slack, which I do by taking it round the pulpit once or twice.

The main may depend on what kind of cover you have. My cover is porous enough to allow the sail to dry out from under it. Some old covers were vinyl and I would expect them to stay damp underneath for longer.
 
jwilson said:
I put on main, stackpack and genoa on a modern 35-footer this spring on my own (usually have help). It took me well over two hours. Lots of going back and forward, feeding things into slots, setting up reefing lines, adjusting etc. Takes about 30-40 minutes even with help.

For the OP - I'd leave them on, but put extra lashings round both genoa and mainsail - right round the stackpack. Now that does not take long to undo. Make sure there are no nice little gaps in the stackpack at the aft end of the boom for small birds to roost in.
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I got a headsail back for a Jeanneau 36.2 about an hour ago. My wife and I hoisted and furled it in about ten minutes.

But even if it took 3 times as long, I would still protect my investment.

Just ask a sailmaker, I know for sure what they would say!
 
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