Mainsail Design Questions

[savoir]

#4 isn't possible . . . . . well you could make one but it wouldn't work.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by oblivionboyj

Yes, I am aware of that.
But the nomenclature as I have heard it isn't a "cruising mainsail".
The word mainsail is redundant.
It is a cruising sail.

You don't say Yankee headsail, or Genoa headsail, or jib headsail.
You say Yankee, Genoa, and job.
Headsail in that case, as mainsail above, is unnecessary.

You will find it very lonely if you stick with that jargon.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Yes.

And there is a twist.

For quite often owners going for full batten mains will specify a larger genoa at the same time.

So when it is the same genoa, the extra roach in the main will generate slight extra helm. If, in the more common scenario, a bigger genoa is used, there is another portion of helm coming from the bigger genoa alone. The two will add up (when both roach on the main and genoa % are modified).
b.

True, but I am thinking with a heavier, not so tender boat, that is a good thing in lighter air and then as things pipe up and you reef the main and keep a larger headsail, it will be driving and pointing well while pretty well balanced. It just always seemed to me they (W32) needed more horsepower out front but I confess to never having sailed one. I also find that easing the mainsheet with a full battened main reduces helm but seems to retain more drive than a traditionally battened main, but I have no empirical data to back that up.

[barnakiel]

Yep. W32 is quite specific given the evolution/revolution in hulls and sails that followed. There must be ways how a W32 hull/rig can somewhat benefit from all the goodies everyone else is using today. Like full battens.

My personal taste is for full battens and roach high up - square top-like mains. This is because coming from the racing background I like to control twist and it is so easy to open the main that has some roach and full battens in the top part of the sail.

Otherwise my liking for full battens comes from how well behaved and how quiet such mains are. I would always go for full battens when such a choice is viable, for any given boat.

b.

[savoir]

Having a main with a large roach opens up all kinds of problems for boats with a backstay . . . . . and that means most boats.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by savoir

Having a main with a large roach opens up all kinds of problems for boats with a backstay . . . . . and that means most boats.

yeah, the lower boom that keeps hitting my head!

[Cheechako]

I found a full batten main not to my liking. Hard to lower and a lot of stress on the sail from the battens at the luff. For a cruising main I would just want a traditional main with short battens and as much roach as the sailmaker could recommend on a W32.
Years ago I did have a friend who bought a new simple mainsail with full length ordinary flat fiberglass battens. (Doyle?) It seemed to work pretty well without so much batten compression on the luff areas.
I have also seen sails with one full batten at the third batten up. I Imagine that helps hold the shape of the sail in light air all over.
There was a time when battenless/roachless mains were the "new thing". But after having a furling main I wouldn't want one. Seemed like a big time performance killer to me.

[barnakiel]

Yes. It is very interesting. I found ours actually the easiest to lower. We must have different mast gear. Our main had cars at battens, slugs in between. I released the halyard and it sort of like almost dropped by itself, nearly all of it. (This creates a separate challenge when reefing, should you relase too much of the halyard, too soon).

And roach / backstays. I think this depends on what we think by 'much roach'. Sure thing too much of it will interfere with many backstays while some amt of extra roach will not - esp when it is added along the leech. Still, my personal best is top squared or plenty of roach high up - definitely not something that can be post mod on a boat with very limited backstay fitting options.

Cheers,
b.

[Don C L]

forgot to mention, here is a good book:
https://www.amazon.com/Sail-Performa...rmance+sailing
not bad for 20 bucks! (used)