Mahe 36: Rig and Sails

[Wayward Wind]

Originally Posted by Serendipity129

Hi guys, would anyone care to share their set up for a boom preventer.

Appreciate any advise.

I have a temporary trial rig involving a small sized mooring rubber shock and a length of 8mm fixed to the boom and at the midships mooring cleat. Angles appear to work well and the mooring rubber takes the edge off the tension flexing when running in larger seas.

cheers

scott

Do you have a photo to share?
Cheers
JohnC

[Cotemar]

Mahe's

I see the Mahe in the demo video with a Parasailor.
http://www.istec.ag/us/products/easysnuffer.html
Play the video on the middle right of this link.

Two sails in one! The Parasailor works from 70° to 180° apparent wind angle (AWA), that is, its covers the domains of both symmetric and asymmetric spinnakers taken together.

Looks like a nice sail to use shorthanded with autopilot.

Who has this sail? Can you tell us if it’s worth the money?

Mark

[Mr B]

Mines a Sailchute, Works great, 31 feet in Diameter,
No I haven't got a side shot of it.

Its good for DDW, 45 degrees each side.

[neilsailingrn]

Mr B, Love the sail chute! How much is it? Easy to deploy? Thanks in advance.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by neilsailingrn

Mr B, Love the sail chute! How much is it? Easy to deploy? Thanks in advance.

$2200-00 AUD,
Easy to put up. Hard to bring down, A bit of practice might help me tho, I tied a rope to the middle and now pull inside out, Easy,
Maybe turning into the wind would also help in getting it down, Hahahahaha

On a Cat, it is only 3 points to tie it too, The top is on the jib rope, The bottom is to the 2 bow cleats, So it stays in front, It cant go side ways unless you loosen one of the bow ties.

There is a video on it from Sailchute, In Sydney, They are the manufacturers of it,

[neilsailingrn]

Very cool. Seems to make sense...and fun too...on those not so busy weather days!

[Wayward Wind]

SailChute - YouTube

Hope this helps. I looked at getting one for my Mahe 36.

Otherwise try

Home Page

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

With the high chance of getting the sailchute in the water when bringing it down, it seems to me to be an accident waiting to happen.
In the Youtube video, it looked as if they were giving backwards engine power to prevent the sail from getting under the bows. And that it on settled water with little wind.
For long ocean downwind passages, like sailing down trade winds, what is the advantage above a symmetrical spi flying from both bows (with a sock)? Especially bearing in mind that you have to take the sail down for squalls?

[Cotemar]

The Parasailor is the best and safest option for downwind sailing on a catamaran.

Main benefits of the Parasailor:
The wing acts like an airplane wing and creates a vertical lifting moment which lifts the bow out of the water instead of dragging it through the water (as happens with a traditional spinnaker or gennaker). This is a particularly useful feature for catamarans.

Because the inflated wing is acting like an “I” beam the sail becomes a “self-tending spinnaker” – what this means is that you can set the sheet and as the wind moves around the sides may collapse but the wing will still stay up and open so that when the wind shifts around the sail will reopen by itself. This is ideal for cruisers on downwind legs with one or two crew.

The hole in the sail acts like a “pressure release valve” and so any gusts will take the path of least resistance and vent out through the sail reducing the chance of broaching (a broach is when the boat is overpowered causing it to lean over and turn violently into the wind).

When raising the sail it immediately “assumes the correct shape” unlike traditional kites which can flap around and get tangled. This is because the wind blows through and inflates the wing which then acts like a rigid “I” beam that keeps the sail open and up.

This sail can be used from 75° wind angle to 175° and from 4 knots of wind to 25. So it is the only downwind sail the boat needs. (Out of a potential 360º wind angle - the Parasailor can sail in 200 of the 360) making it your most versatile sail.

The sail is symmetrical however it can be used with or without a pole (I recommend no pole as the wing replaces the functions of the pole).

Advantages over a gennaker:
The Parasailor can be used from 75° wind angle to 175°. The gennaker operates within a wind angle range of 90° to 170°.

Gybing the Parasailor is easy as the wing keeps inflated and holds the sail up and open as you “float” the sail across the bow of the boat, in contrast the gennaker is difficult to gybe as you have to turn the gennaker inside out and things can get messy as you drag the clew (with the sheets) all the way from back of one side of the boat around the forestay to the other side.

The Parasailor can handle wind speeds from 4 knots of wind to 25. A gennaker will typically operate in wind speeds up to 15 knots so if you get a gust over 15 knots, it could tear, deform or be damaged easily.

In the event of a gust or dramatic wind speed increase, the Parasailor has an inbuilt safety mechanism as the extra wind will “vent” out through the hole in the sail just like a pressure release valve. Under the same wind conditions, the gennaker will try to pull the boat over into a broach until you release the sheet or the sail rips.

To rig the Parasailor you will attach a stand-up block on each bow of the boat. You will then need two additional lines (we will call these Guys) that run through these blocks.
One sheet and one guy is attached to a snap shackle that is attached to the port corner of the Parasailor and the same on the Starboard side.
The halyard is attached to the top Easysnuffer that has the Parasailor inside it.
The sheets go to a block at the aft side of each hull. That’s it. We recommend that you use the color blue for both guys and one red and one green sheet.

Advantages over a spinnaker:
Again a better wind angle range as the Parasailor can be used from 75° wind angle to 175°. The spinnaker operates within a wind angle range of 90° to 170°.

The difference between a spinnaker and a gennaker is the actual shape of the sail. In a spinnaker the length of the two sides is equal (as is the Parasailor). In a gennaker one side is longer than the other (asymmetrical) and the corner of the long side is attached to the bow. On a gennaker the sheets are both attached to one corner of the sail. On a spinnaker (or a Parasailor) the sheets are attached to both corners so that either corner can be “fixed” to the bow (or spinnaker pole end) depending on which side of the boat the wind is blowing. A spinnaker can only be flown using a spinnaker pole. The Parasailor does NOT need a spinnaker pole as the wing replaces the function of the pole (that is to keep the sail up and force it to stay open).

The Parasailor is obviously much easier to rig as you do not use the pole.

The Parasailor can handle wind speeds from 4 knots of wind to 25. A spinnaker will typically operate in wind speeds up to 15 knots so if you get a gust over 15 knots, it could tear, deform or be damaged easily.

In the event of a gust or dramatic wind speed increase, the Parasailor has an inbuilt safety mechanism as the extra wind will “vent” out through the hole in the sail just like a pressure release valve. Under the same wind conditions, the spinnaker will try to pull the boat over into a broach until you release the sheet or the sail rips.

When using a gennaker or a spinnaker you will not have a sail that will cope and serve you in a wide range of wind angles and wind speeds. The Parasailor does cover the full range and will be the only downwind sail you need.

Here is a quotation for a FP Mahe 36 new Parasailor:

Sail area 840ft² Wing area 129ft²

The sail will come with the recovery sock and the oval shaped funnel as well as the ISTEC bag. (Everything will fit in the bag)

Delivery will be five to six weeks.

Please choose a color design from:http://www.parasailorusa.com/us/products/parasailor/articles/made-to-order-pick-your-color.html

To include Sail, recovery sock, ISTEC compression sail bag and freight is $5,266

ISTEC Sock info:http://www.parasailorusa.com/us/products/easysnuffer.html

To download our 48 page brochure. Please go to http://www.parasailor.com/us/products.html

We invite your customer to visit our national training center in St. Petersburg, FL which is open all year round, simply fly into Tampa airport enjoy a complimentary night stay on one of our boats and go sailing the following day. The cost is $495 which is fully refunded when they buy the sail, this is our “Try before you buy” program. Seehttp://www.parasailorusa.com/national-training-center.html

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Mark,
The maximum windspeed for the FP Spifurl is 15 knots apparent wind. This will be 20-25 knots of true wind.
I have used it up to 25 knots of wind straight downwind in butterfly configuration with the mainsail. Speed peaked on 17.5 knots when surfing down a wave. Since the minimum speed was 8-10 knots, the apparant wind was around 15 knots, as specified.

The quoted 25 knots of the Parasailor, is that true or apparent wind? If true wind, then the difference in wind handling of the two is not so big.

I have read on the Internet that Parasailors require quite more often than regular sails.

I met a Swiss sailor with a Dragonfly 1200 oceangoing trimaran who said that for tradewind downwind sailing, he recommended a spinnaker:
- Stronger than normal, to stand the 15-25 knots of trade winds
- Smaller than normal
- Used without mainsail
- With a sock
- Flown from the 2 bows
I am not sure whether the Mahe is wide enough to have a stable spinnaker.
Any views?

[Cotemar]

Jef,

I am just trying to educate myself on downwind sails at this point.
The Parasailor price of $5266 would be what's holding me back on buying one.
All the info from above came from Parasailor.

[careka]

Go for it. i did.

Its Santa time.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Jef & Marin, Netherlands

With the high chance of getting the sailchute in the water when bringing it down, it seems to me to be an accident waiting to happen.
In the Youtube video, it looked as if they were giving backwards engine power to prevent the sail from getting under the bows. And that it on settled water with little wind.
For long ocean downwind passages, like sailing down trade winds, what is the advantage above a symmetrical spi flying from both bows (with a sock)? Especially bearing in mind that you have to take the sail down for squalls?

The Sailchute cant land in the water while sailing, the ropes aren't long enough.
Its only when you bring it down, But a bit of practice with it, I might have got it down with out it getting wet, The rope through the middle I havent tried yet,
To reverse the air pressure through it, Its a bit hard single handed, So I only used it ponly the once, It still worked like a charm.

[careka]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Jef,

I am just trying to educate myself on downwind sails at this point.
The Parasailor price of $5266 would be what's holding me back on buying one.
All the info from above came from Parasailor.

Mine is 105 m2 = 1300 f2

and i payed 5000euros. + VAT 25% + transport,germany/norway

hope it will give me many nice days,

[Oliver66]

That is really expensive.

Not sure it'll work better than a well shaped asymetric spinnaker...
careka, Santa Claus is really nice with you, sure you have been really good boy during 2011 !!!


so we are now waiting for your feedback.



best Christmas holiday to all !!