Is a screecher worth it?

[SailFastTri]

Should I fly the screacher?

[davecalvert]

On the answer to, "What is the difference between a screacher and a Code 0" The screacher is designed to trim inside the shrouds and be used with a sheeting angle narrow enough for light air upwind sailing. The halyard should be a 2 to 1 and not far above the hounds fitting. The loads on the screachers are quite high so, strong, low stretch material should be used for the sail and the halyard made of a good low stretch fiber to minimize stretch.These sails do work well reaching but, will not be best for very low reaches and downwind. The Code 0s can use the spinnaker points of attachment on the pole, halyard, and sheet blocks aft, as these sails should be sheeted out side the shrouds and designed to offer the maximum sail area, for the triangular profile.
If there is an asymmetrical spinnaker on the boat, a screacher may be a good choice. For the one sail to do all, the Code 0 is what we usually recommend.
Make sure it has a large enough anti twist luff rope for furling and a durable material heavy enough for a light weight Dacron U V strip to be included.
Cheers,
Dave

[Factor]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I figured by the time I'd paid for the sail, the furler, the prodder, the bridle and the blocks, I wouldn't have much change from $8k.

Sometimes, when the wind is light, it would be nice to have, but the $8k is ALWAYS nice to have.

Yes - but you have to remember that your boat sails better than most, most will need a Screecher to stay anywhere near you.

[Overlord]

It's an awesome beast . Other day we were on lee of an athol , wind at 90 degrees , 18 knys and we were up to 12 knots boat speed. Conditions have to be right to use it. Can fly up to 70 degrees in about 15 Knots and 60 in 12 knots. Furling right is a learning curve. Used it in pacific crossing. Very happy with it

[2Wind]

Having both a 90sqm screecher and a 155sqm ASYI, I find the main determinant as to what I use, is the number of crew. Certainly sailing short handed (me and one novice), it's always the screecher, even deep down wind, when I relocate the tack to the just inside the windward bow/cross beam junction where it flys well even behind the full main. With a useful assistant, as well as the prospect of a reasonable time on a given tack (30 min or more) I'll use the ASYI for optimal performance and style. Obviously the sails don't fully overlap in wind angle performance with the screecher being significantly better at 70-90 TWA and the ASYI at 140-160 TWA range. If I could only have one, I'd look at the likely crew composition. You need two strong able bodied people to handle the ASYI (one on the sheets/halyards/winches and the strongest on the tramp hauling the sock up or down with down generally being the problem), potentially three if you get caught with 25+kts (two forward).

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Often forgotten today is a Blooper, another easy to handle niche sail.

Blooper? Easy to handle?

Mine never was.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by 2Wind

Having both a 90sqm screecher and a 155sqm ASYI, I find the main determinant as to what I use, is the number of crew. Certainly sailing short handed (me and one novice), it's always the screecher, even deep down wind, when I relocate the tack to the just inside the windward bow/cross beam junction where it flys well even behind the full main. With a useful assistant, as well as the prospect of a reasonable time on a given tack (30 min or more) I'll use the ASYI for optimal performance and style. Obviously the sails don't fully overlap in wind angle performance with the screecher being significantly better at 70-90 TWA and the ASYI at 140-160 TWA range. If I could only have one, I'd look at the likely crew composition. You need two strong able bodied people to handle the ASYI (one on the sheets/halyards/winches and the strongest on the tramp hauling the sock up or down with down generally being the problem), potentially three if you get caught with 25+kts (two forward).

Sock it's pretty easy to lower if you blew the tack first.