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Stranded Mariner · 17-02-2009, 16:09

Thanks for all your valuable input. The storm jib with a wire luff sounds interesting.

Kanani · 17-02-2009, 17:05

I gave up on sailing in conditions that require the use of a storm jib years ago.

When the weather gets that heavy, I put out the parachute sea anchor. It cuts down on wear & tear on both the boat and my nerves. Sitting to a para anchor is quite comfortable in the worst conditions. Sitting it out for 18-24 hours can make all the difference in the world.

Sailing on a storm jib is just begging to break something......bones included.

The fact is, it just isn't necessary anymore.

Splash Gordon · 21-02-2009, 04:19

Hi Stranded
I did some examination of storm setups when I was teaching a few years ago (you sound like a Saffer- if you are, you probably know the doyen of SA sailing who I worked for, and how cautious he encourages one to become) and what I found very popular with the furling folk was a "hank-over" stormjib with a wire luff.
The stormjib binds on with webbing ties something like a cross between an Equiplite shackle and a coat-toggle. That way the sail could be fitted over the rolled stays'l without removing it from the furler. My personal fear is working the pointy-end in heavy weather and having to wrestle heavy headsails off the deck to get them down below, so leaving the gear in place and adding accessories makes more sense to me!
I've only used a stormjib twice in anger, and at 55kn (app.), the thing's just about blow-all use if you want to go anything like upwind. I think it's only of use running off.
The sheeting angle is so inefficient and the sheet-leads are so approximate (not to mention the loads) that the sail really comes into its own as a forgiving little rag to drag the pointy end round in front of the blunt end! That way you have a fairly comfortable riding sail to tow you out of trouble/get you home/fore-reach with.

Lady Circumnavi · 23-02-2009, 20:59

A storm jib is another good piece of equipment you hope you never need. It could give you the power to claw off a lee shore in bad conditions when running bare poled before the wind isn't an option. We blew out a headsail in a gale coming into Port Elizabeth in South Africa. If we had been further to sea we might have gone through the trouble of rigging the storm sail. It would have been the right sail for the conditions. A stout cable running the length of the deck to clip a harness into is another good piece of safety gear when it gets nasty on deck.