Amel Twin Headsails

[Hobie_ind]

One of the most common series of questions we got regarding our Super Maramu was about the unique twin headsail system.

When we first got the boat, we spoke to a couple of other owners who had not had good experiences with the system and they talked about how much difficulty they had keeping the sail under control while setting and dousing.

Given this, we were a little apprehensive about before using the system. After reading Amel's instructions carefully and using the system a few times though ...... we loved the twin headsails and never again worried about it! I regularly raised and lowered the ballooner singlehanded without issue.

I've never been able to find much showing Amel owners setting the ballooner, and the only video I did I find had a short snippet showing two people being required to drop the sail and keep it out of the water while remaining heading dead downwind.

So I made some videos of the process to post to YouTube while we were in Australia a couple of years ago, but could never get my iPad to 'play nice' with YouTube to download. Last week I finally got them transferred to the laptop and uploaded to YouTube. Unfortunately some of the videos showing the raising process got corrupted, so I only have the dousing video. This is effectively the process we ended up landing on.

It worked well for us, but I can't guarantee it will work for everyone and I'm sure others have their own variations, so I'm not saying it will work for everyone. Hopefully though, this might be useful to other Amel owners (or potential owners) who are looking to understand how the system works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqNF1ggKGRw&t=86s

[ontherocks83]

Great video

[daletournier]

Ive always liked that system. Im currently next to a amel 54 ( which i think is awesome) and I noticed they dont use the same system on the bigger and newer Amel, I wonder why?

[Hobie_ind]

Originally Posted by daletournier

.... I noticed they dont use the same system on the bigger and newer Amel, I wonder why?

I've never understood it myself either. I have wondered though if it was because the 54 already had two headsails, so it was simply assumed that most owners would find it easier to just pole out the inner staysail and forego the bit of lost sail area from the balloner, so they didn't bother. I have talked to a couple of 54 owners that had previously owned Super Maramus, and they commented that the twin headsails was one of the features they missed on the 54. (As an aside.... 'trading up' within the brand was a common theme among quite a number of the Amel owners we've met over the years)

Regards,
Mark

PS> I agree with you regarding liking the 54. It's high on my list as an option for the 'next boat'.

[Kenomac]

Why not just fly a spinnaker, parasail spinnaker or use the boom as the second pole to pole out a staysail? Also, both of our Oysters have twin slot foil forward furlers, so the idea is hardly unique. Just use the spinnaker halyard to raise and lower a second jib or “ballooner” or whatever you wanna call it.

[Hobie_ind]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Why not just fly a spinnaker, parasail spinnaker or use the boom as the second pole to pole out a staysail? Also, both of our Oysters have twin slot foil forward furlers, so the idea is hardly unique. Just use the spinnaker halyard to raise and lower a second jib or “ballooner” or whatever you wanna call it.

I know that Oysters used a twin slot foil on some of their boats as I've looked at it in great detail on a friends Oyster 53, but the Amel system IS unique. What makes it unique is the 3rd slot and locking system in the top bearing assembly that allows you to drop the second halyard and then be able to furl the twin headsail together if conditions come up.

Our friends with the Oyster used their twin headsails a lot, but commented a few times that they envied the 3rd slot and locking assembly on the Amel. They got around the limitations of the twin slot system by dropping the jib and then raising both the main jib and the second jib at the same time so they could furl if required. A lot more work that the Amel system. They advised the process took them almost 45 minutes to do and therefore they would only do it if both of them were available and they expected 24+ hrs of use. We'd often raise our ballooner for a 3-4 hour window.

Knowing you can quickly furl the twin headsails if conditions start changing, even when sailing shorthanded, is what gives many owners the confidence to keep the twin headsails up at night. (When many friends are dropping their spinnakers, parasails, etc. at dusk on the same crossing....just in case. This isn't theoretical but based on numerous SSB Net and daily email updates with other boats on crossings).

As for using the boom as a second pole. I looked at it and on a ketch the main boom just isn't long enough to be as useful.

In the end though, it's a personal preference and with a quartering wind a spinnaker or parasail probably DOES offer superior performance (although then the mizzen staysail on a Super Maramu is a great option at those angles that largely closes the performance gap, but that's a different discussion and I already know you'll probably disagree as your dislike for ketches has been well communicated and documented in numerous previous threads )

Different boats for different folks Ken....

[Kenomac]

There’s no way it could possibly take 45 minutes to furl both head sails in two separate slots on an Oyster 53. When both jibs are attached to the genoa furler/halyard, we simply push a button which controls the Rechmann hydraulic yankee/genoa furler, and both sails are furled together in under 45 seconds... it couldn’t be any easier or faster.

Please have your friends give me a call, always nice to meet someone with the same boat, maybe we can compare some notes.

[Hobie_ind]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

There’s no way it could possibly take 45 minutes to furl both head sails in two separate slots on an Oyster 53. When both jibs are attached to the genoa furler/halyard, we simply push a button which controls the Rechmann hydraulic yankee/genoa furler, and both sails are furled together in under 45 seconds... it couldn’t be any easier or faster.

If you re-read, the 45 minutes was the process of dropping the jib, then re-hoisting it and the second jib on a bridle connected to the bearing assembly so that they could later furl it in 45 seconds as you describe.....

That was for the two of them to do it while underway, so I'm assumed included all the other steps such as turning around and heading to windward, getting the pole set up, putting a block on the end of the boom (they found that they got a lot of chafe otherwise) and setting it up for poling out the headsail, etc, etc.

The original intent of the post was simply to share how the system works, as I've got a number of questions over the years from other sailors. Additionally, it was to share some of the tips that make the system easy to use singlehanded with other Amel owners. I've never claimed it was the only solution, just that we liked it and it worked very well for us.

[a64pilot]

Ken,
The Amel Super Maramu is a completely different animal, it’s not just some cosmetics, it’s a system that just to my limited knowledge just isn’t duplicated on any other boats.
It’s like arguing that SPD’s and Speedplay’s are the same cause the end result is similar.

Even my lowly IP has twin slots in its foils, before getting my code zero my plan was to use a spare Halyard and fly both my Genoa’s.
However it’s my understanding that the Amel Balloner if that’s what it’s called is something pretty similar to a code zero, but its restrictions on relative wind are much more strict.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ken,
The Amel Super Maramu is a completely different animal, it’s not just some cosmetics, it’s a system that just to my limited knowledge just isn’t duplicated on any other boats.
It’s like arguing that SPD’s and Speedplay’s are the same cause the end result is similar.

Even my lowly IP has twin slots in its foils, before getting my code zero my plan was to use a spare Halyard and fly both my Genoa’s.
However it’s my understanding that the Amel Balloner if that’s what it’s called is something pretty similar to a code zero, but its restrictions on relative wind are much more strict.

Twin slots flying two genoas using two poles can be done easily on many boats, Amels aren’t “unique” in their ability to do this as some would like us to believe.

Nice video, thanks for sharing.