Bruce In Bangkok wrote:
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:27:39 +0100, "Edgar"
wrote:

"cavelamb" wrote in message
..
.
snipped

Still going back and forth on the head sail question.
To roll or not to roll...
this is my first roller, and I'm not completely in love with it.
It works as advertised, but I'm not convinced I want to keep it.

Tell us why. My last boat had hanked-on foresails and I have had times when
I was nearly losing the sail and myself overboard trying to change jibs in a
gale in the dark.
Now I have a roller I would never go back to the former system. Mine is a
Profurl and it is very strong and I have never had a problem furling by
hauling the furling line by hand, but it is better to avoid the more lightly
built ones that tell you that you must never use a winch on the furling
line. You never know when you might just have to.

I think it's a matter of what type of sailing one does. If racing then
the furler won't allow you to reduce sail and maintain the best sail
shape but if cruising, i.e., making long passages with small crews
then the furler is the way to go. No problem for a single individual
to make major sail reduction or let it all hang out.

As for using a winch to roll up the sail. Why? The load on the sail is
a matter of wind strength and sale area that catches the wind. If it
is hard to roll just let off a bit on the sheet. The whole exercise
from grabbing the furling line to sitting back with a beer takes only
moments.

Although I think that are going out of style I have foam leeches in
both my head sails. They do make for a better sail shape for the first
few feet you reef the sail although they don't help much by the time
you get down to nothing but a handkerchief..

.
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)


Perhaps I've been racing too long and can't break the mind set.


Joe Berber, my sail maker (Mariner Sails in Dallas), pretty much said the same
thing you did, Bruce. The foam tape is tapered - widest in the middle of the
luff, tapered down to nothing on the ends, so that when the sail rolls up it
rolls up evenly, rather than skinny in the middle.

That helps with sail shape by keeping the middle of the roll filled out flush so
it doesn't have a bunch of excess fabric to make a deep belly.

It also helps extend sail life since the sail doesn't stretch unevenly.

My genoa (135%) when fully unrolled in light air (about 8 knots) shows three
very distinct scallops along the leech. That's two places where it is "pinched".
They correspond to the points where the sail has been "reefed".

So the foam luff tape is a possible solution offered for the reefing / sail
shape issue.


And Bruce, I take careful note of what you said about cruising short handed.
Back to that in a moment...

What I've seen so far on this boat...

The full genny is ok up to about 15 knots of breeze (usually don't have rail
meat to stand her up past that).

The boat points way higher that I expected. Best I've seen we did 35 degrees
off making 3 to 3.5 knots. I had several guests that day (new sailboat owners
who had never sailed before!) so there was enough meat on the rail to hold her
up. It was a fabulous beat!

By 20 knots, it should have been reduced about 25% to 30% with a reef in the
main. That would correspond to a 100% working jib. But a working jib would
probably be made a bit heavier. We loose maybe 10 degrees to weather.

By 25 knots is need to be down to half (call it 50 to 65%), and we've lost
another 10 to 15 degrees.

At 30 knots, I'm down to reefed main alone and can't point worth squat. She will
beam reach pretty well, but maybe a point or two forward is all it's going to do.


I have a fantasy of a small stay sail that could be flown in heavy wind.
It would be about 20 to 25% of the fore triangle, and cut high to allow the
sheets to align on the cabin top tracks.

A strong eye pad just aft of the anchor locker for the tack, and a halyard at
the spreaders to hoist it. That would technically make my reefed main about a
3/4 fractional rig and probably help recover some of the lost pointing ability.

I'm more in favor of this than one of those Gale Sails because of the location.
The GS is located all the way forward - no help for the main, and a LONG moment
arm back to the keel. Lot's of turning force.

A stay sail would help the main some by making a little slot effect, and is
located much closer to the mast. (same as the reefed main)

I think it would be useful regardless of the jib (rolled up or taken down).


Anyway...
Back to the roller/hank question...

Mechanical reliability?

I can't get to the forestay turnbuckle without disassembling part of the furler.
Makes it hard to examine very often.


If that little furling line comes loose...
Never mind! I don't even want to think about that one.
(but I'm open to offers of how to deal with it)


If the roller jams?
I'm told the halyard can do that - top of the mast, of course.
Gee, What fun that would be to clear!


If the jib should tear?
It takes me too long to thread that thin luff in calm conditions at the dock.
I'd prefer not to have to do it in any kind of sea!
Remember, it has to be fed into the groove of the foil - not like hanking on a
bunched up (and tied) head sail.


Now... Back to what Bruce said - and what it implies...

Balance against all that heavy disaster scenario -
conserving strength of the crew.

How important is that?

From what I've read, more boats are lost at sea because the crew was exhausted
or injured - not because the boat came undone.


I've raced a lot.
But I've not done much long distance (or long duration) sailing.
There is still a lot for me to learn.


Richard

S.V. Temptress