Lots of food for thought here. I find the idea of ruining the shape
of my genny in one day troubling. It's a roller furling sail with
foam leading edge and weather cloth leach. It feels to be about as
heavy as the main so I think it's a cruising sail intended to take a
good deal of abuse.

I don't actually carry it touching the spreaders. That's where I
crank it to while headed up a bit to ease the grinding. By the time
full power is developed, it's a good six inches off the spreaders. (I
need new sheets next year.)

I'm not a hard driver either, you get to windward a lot faster
identifying the optimum heel angle and then just steering to maintain
that when the boat is overpowered and you can't make a sail reduction.
I have intentionally driven the boat down to learn how she will handle
in sudden or unexpected gusts but I don't make a practice of it.

This is certainly not the rig I would have chosen but it came with the
hull and interior I wanted. I hope to rework it someday. Maybe I've
got too much time in more traditional boats but I'm amazed how fast
this shoal draft boat with its not-too-efficient keel goes and points.

The boat is a joy with the working jib. I'd probably sail with it a
lot if it were not for the hassle of making changes with the roller
furling. Leaving it up without the weather cloths on the leach would
shorten its life more than I want. One of the first items on my
Christmas list is one of those hoisting covers so I can leave the
smaller sail up during periods I expect brisk winds. Second is an
asymmetrical spinnaker so I don't need the area of the genoa off the
wind.

If someone came along and offered to trade my roller furling rig for a
set of hank sails, I would seriously consider it now that I've sailed
with the roller for a few weeks.

--

Roger Long



"Terry Spragg" wrote in message
...
Rich Hampel wrote:
"On masthead boats, we susally sheet the genoa in until it just
about

touches the spreaders."

Thats strange, I usually barber-haul most mastheaded boats or run a
second set of sheets INSIDE the rail to affect better
pointing/speed
.... and usually place somewhere at the front of the fleet. He's
probably got a mainsail thats out of shape.

Naw, he's got the genny brakes on. A bag, a hook, too close in, too
slow, too low. Sometimes a smaller flatter inboard jib is just
plain faster to windward, as well as being far more comfortable. A
genny is a light air sail, not a moderate air sail.

Luffing, or a bubbly main luff, wants more outhaul, gooseneck down,
cunningham on, mainsheet in. If it softens occasionally, it is set
right. Everything is so relative. A study of butterfly flight
revealed their vortex generators generated low drag leading edge
turbulence, loosely coupled to the wings, which were very similar in
performance to a more shapely, heavier leading edge.

Keeping the boat upright means the keel doesn't slip so much. Once
it starts to carve, you don't need a lot of sail, or for that
matter, a lot of keel. Canted keels help.

A genny is an off the wind sail, unless it is able to go spanking
flat, close in to windward. It's silly to expect a light sail not
to stretch when abused. Sails should be cared for, as expensive
fuel costs. Decent sails, used decently can go ten years. Used by a
fool, the best can be ruined in one race, one gust.

Of course, I've never flown a new, super tech material sail.

That's one reason why we call cruising sailing nowhere special, at
economical speed. (Pocket Oxford) The economy of effort is also a
factor. A self tending jib is what makes a cruiser. Racing, or
aspiring to seem to be a racing type, is a different matter.

Excuse me, while I aspire to snobbery.

Agressive humility? Sure, why not? I got a lot to be humble about.


For tell-tales, etc. go to www.arvelgentry.com and read the
'magazine
articles' (archives from the 1970s) .... if you want to sail on the
'edge'.
In article .com,
wrote:


Roger

Like the other posters said, a little back winding is nor porblem.

On masthead boats, we susally sheet the genoa in until it just
about
touches the spreaders.

This is to avoid wearing a hole in the sail, it says nothing about
sail trim, except that you cannot sheet a large sail where you
might, were performance the only goal. -tk

Do you have a traveller for the main? If yes,
use it to position the boom at, or close to the center line of the
boat
but don;t forget to make sure you've not stalled the sail.

This may be true, but for only one condition. If you are going to
windward and feel you should centre the boom, then you must have
some twist in it if it is to do any good at all, and the foot must
be stalled. If you need twist to depower the sail, you should be
seriously considering reefing something. Enough is enough, too much
excess power being used to balance too much excess power is not the
most economical approach to sail burn ratios. Let's hope it won't
shorten the life of steel wire and fiberglass, let alone aluminium
extrusions, stressed out crew, spilly bartenders, harrassed helmsmen
and navigator-tacticians. This is not cruising.

Terry K

A couple of
tell telas at the leech will really help here.

If you don't have a traveller, adjust the sail for th ecorrect
shape,
ignore the remaining back winding and have another beverage

Cheers

Matt