Yankee vs lowcut jib?

[charliehows]

I'm thinking about replacing my hard working main jib with a yankee - several reasons; boats a ketch so shorter j length means any over lap in the jib causes it to need to be routed outside of the main shrouds, cutting a few very useful degrees off the ability of the boat to head hard into the wind; stainless steel railings mean a higher cut keeps the jib free of the railings.
But i've no experience of yankee sails at all so are there any obvious reasons why they may create unforeseen disadvantages? The jib stay goes to the masthead, sail will be hanked.

[Orion Jim]

Visibility forward is certainly improved with a yankee and most spray offshore is of no concern. I have a cutter so it makes sense for me. You may want to use a headsail with a "high" clew as opposed to a normal yankee which has the clew cut much higher. You will gain visibility forward without reducing the working sail area dramatically.

[charliehows]

thx...i think maybe cutting the clew to fit - ie raising it just a bit to clear the railings might be the way to go

[Suijin]

You'll lose some power with the yankee, and if the clew is too high you'll also lose windward performance. If you sail offshore an added benefit of the yankee is that big green water over the bow is less likely to lead to damage.

Your sheeting angles are going to change and you'll need to move your jib car way back, generally speaking. The sailmaker should discuss sheeting angles with you and where your blocks are.

[Kenomac]

We like our cutter rig with yankee and staysail. Much easier to see forward.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eOyu835tCp0

[polaris2.11]

One minor advantage of our yankee is that I don't have to move the cars back when I switch to the genoa.

[Cheechako]

I like about a 110-115% high cut jib. Not a true Yankee as the clew was not as high as a real yankee. You can reach the clue barely, but with the pendant, the sail sits pretty high. I often used a ~2 +ft pendant on the tack. I had these on 3 different cutters and they all worked out well. I used the staysail as mainly a higher wind option though.

[Pendragon35]

I used to sail with one of those deck sweeping 155% jibs; now I have a 135% yankee cut genoa. LOVE it. LOts of "omg I had no idea you were there and that close" with the 155. Now I can see forward. I'd never go back.