"Red Cloudİ" wrote in message
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On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 13:18:16 GMT, "MMC" wrote:
No kidding, does the main know or care the luff length of the foresail
that's not up?
"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
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In article , Mic
wrote:
http://www.rcryachts.com/fractional.htm
"Fractional Rig Offers Advantages Over Masthead Rig
In my sailing experience I have learned to prefer a fractional rig to
a masthead version, whether cruising, racing or daysailing. Here are
some of the reasons why I believe that more people should be sailing
boats with fractional rigs:"........
I agree with most of the content except this part...
"A frac rig boat can sail on mainsail alone: there are times when one
would prefer to sail with one sail up, for a variety of reasons. On a
masthead rig boat, sailing under main alone is so inefficient as to be
almost worthless, especially upwind."
I sail frequently on a mast head rig boat on just the main with no
problems at all. The boat has a full main with two reef points.
I don't understand why it would be an issue to do this.
The main on a masthead rig is generally quite small compared to what
you would find on a similar boat with a fractional rig. The mast is
also located further back. The entire rant about fractional vs.
masthead, however, was just that... a rant. He emphasized and
exaggerated the negatives of the masthead to try and make the
difference much greater than it actually is.
I have a masthead rigged boat, and it is far from "worthless" to sail
it under main alone.
I can also roll my 155% genoa down to a 100% and while it wouldn't be
competive for racing, it still adds plenty of power. It's certainly
not optimum, but it is still effective for cruising purposes. I sail
single handed quite often, so I don't always have a bunch of railmeat
along to hold the boat down when the wind kicks up.
rusty redcloud
None of the masthead rigs I've sailed on are "quite small" compared to
fractionally rigged boats. The location difference of the mast also has
seemed slight at best. I've noticed no difference between the two kinds of
boats on main alone. We use a 100% jib on the masthead rig I'm currently
sailing on, and it is plenty powerful, especially for the wind in the bay.
Personally, I like fractional rigs also, but not for the reasons stated in
the "ability to sail under main alone" rant.