Genoa that much better?

[fgraham]

Thank You all. Very helpful. Frank

[knockabout]

genoa overlaps the mast / no.1 headsail swings in front of the mast /rig balance is important /if your headsails are not matched to your main you end up with aching arms and working out all sorts of jury rigs steering systems / if your headsail is small your main with round you to windward / you can risk your autohelm and apply pressure by hand as well or reef the main to match the headsail and vise versa if you have a furling genoa / if you sail in the same area all the time match the headsail to the prevailing local conditions

[1boat2many]

IJust a quick note on fore triangle dimensions - last year I had 2 boats, the pocket cruiser was an Albin Cumulus (28), fractional rig, 135% genoa with tafetta fill (new when I bought the boat) - awesome sail, very much like Roverhi's description of versatility and performance. The new boat is an O'Day 31, masthead rig, BIG fore triangle that provides more than half the rig's overall sail area. This one came with an almost new 135 as well - Neil Pride, not a heavier sail than the Albin's 135 in terms of cloth weight, but being seriously bigger in dimensions the net weight seemed to kill the shape, so under 5 kts, no fun.

Long story short, I found myself furling the 135 on a consistent basis in 15+, so I bought a 115% of similar grade to the headsail I had on the Albin and picked a used blade off a Cat 30 from Masthead sails (consignment shop). I have yet to see how the new sails perform as the boat is still on the hard (waiting on new rudder, ETA next Friday, but that's another story).

[meirriba]

One more thing to consider is the path of the sheet from the clew of ghe jib or genoa to the deck. Usually the larger is the sail you'll want this deck attachment further back and further out. If you have a traveler for these sheets you probably have solved the forward/aft dimension but still need to check the outwards dimension.
This may be somtimes solved with a barber hauler (be it pulling outwards or inwards).