Roger Long wrote:
After a couple of season of sailing my masthead rig Endeavour 32 using
mostly the 130% roller genoa, I've been astounded to find out how much
better it goes to windward with the small working jib. In winds strong
enough to need some rolls on the genoa and a reef in the main, there is
nearly a knot of difference in speed due to the cleaner leading edge and
better shape. In lighter winds, the boat doesn't go much faster but
feels better and steers more easily.

The downside is losing the increase in speed when the sheets are eased.
I miss that feeling of rocketing away on a reach. Instead, the boat just
maintains about the same speed as it was going to windward.

I'm going to sail a lot more with the working jib and am having a leach
doubling sewn onto it this winter so I can leave it up more often
without suffering sun damage. A cruising spinnaker was low on my list
because I was pretty happy with the performance under the genoa for
cruising and didn't think I wanted to deal with getting a downwind sail
out of the bag and up. Now that I've seen how well the working jib is
for windward work, I'm re-thinking.

I end up doing a lot of beating to windward. If I carry the genoa as my
primary headsail, I'm now going to want to switch to the working jib for
any long windward legs if there is any real breeze. That's an involved
operation. Carrying the working jib as the primary headsail and getting
an asymetrical spinnaker out for long reaching and downwind legs might
be more fun and less work.

--
Roger Long

What brand of furler and is your sail set up with the luff foam or rope?
Thanks
Gordon

It's a 1980 vintage Harken furler which works great. The sail has the foam in the leading edge and the shape is pretty good. If the boat is a bit over pressed and I roll up about a foot and a half of sail, I'll see the speed go up. Shape degrades as the sail is furled further but it still looks like a sail when half rolled up. I think the big roll at the leading edge is more of a detriment than the shape change. Still, it's not as good a shape as the working jib when rolled to the same size.

The main flattens very nicely with the first reef. Two reefs and working jib in 25 - 30 knot winds and she is just a joy going to windward. For a none too stiff and wide sheeting base boat with a shoal keel, she makes surprising progress.


-- Roger Long