On 6 Jun 2005 18:38:56 -0700, "Matt"
wrote:

Hi,
I've recently sold my main\jib TS and bought a cutter rigged ketch
and have come up with a few things I'm not too sure of.

I've got a yankee cut Jib and self tacking staysl I tend to use when
it's at all blowy or likely to be. I've also got a very large Genoa I
use when it's not. I thought that with the Genoa you keep the staysl
down as you don't want to smother the Genoa. I read a comment where the
staysl was used with a genoa. Is this worthwhile\possible with a large
genoa?

This is slightly confusing because there is a sail not much used
anymore on cutter rigs called a genoa staysail. Picture a yankee cut
or a number 2 or a number 3 jib on a high tack line/pendant. Picture a
padeye on the deck about one quarter to one third of the way to the
mast. Picture a halyard sheave between the spreaders and the masthead.

The genoa staysail goes in there. It's a largish sail with a long foot
and it works on a reach with the jib/foresail to make an efficient
slot. If you are doing a long reach on one tack, you can attach the
tack of the genoa staysail to the rail.

On my boat, it's good from about 8-18 knots.

Your ability to trim a standard staysail on its own centerline stay
will depend on your control lines and whether it's clubfooted or not.
Proper staysails have a short traveller and it's this that needs
tweaking in concert with the genoa or yankee to get that slot effect
that powers the boat.

Staysails are great, of course, for when the wind pipes up: just drop
the genoa (or roll it, I suppose) and put a reef in the main. The
staysail can stay up longest and it's close enough to the center of
effort so that it won't pull the boat around by its nose.

If your wife is worried about hank-on genoas of large size, rig a
downhaul line to a block near the tack. You can "crash-douse" a
hank-on sail this way far faster than you can roll up a furling sail,
which can go very wrong at just the wrong time (sudden squall).

Of course, pointing is hard to achieve on a cutter, so if the sails
are managable and you are able, I would keep the simple, reliable
hank-on foresails. We like to get the most out of the boat we have,
and furling, while convenient in some senses, is a bit of a compromise
here.

R.