Modern Headsail Inventory for Coastal Cruisers

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by SailingFan

I may have found something...:

https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/con...e-headsail-rig

Does this seem right?

Just FYI . . . Joe (author of that article) knows his stuff. He's been in two America cups, 200 ton masters license, 30 year pro sail maker, whole bunch of ocean crossings.

[Jim Cate]

FWIW: In the past, before the onset of furling headsails, I've had a few slab reefed headsails. I found them to be nearly useless in that I never was able to contain the bunt of the sail successfully. First, it was bloody difficult to deal with under the sort of conditions where the reef was required, gathering up the loose material on a wet and pitching foredeck, and then somehow using gaskets and nettles to bundle it up. Second, when that task was finally accomplished and I returned to the cockpit, before long it would manage to come undone... the shaking and flogging would always defeat my bundling.

In the end, it was easier to change down to a smaller sail... and the shape was better, too!

Maybe I am just too fumble-fingered to cope with this situation, but I suspect that the relative scarcity of such sails indicates that others have found the same drawbacks. And for those that worry about "leaving the safety of the cockpit", this is a non-starter!

Jim

[mowerandy]

Uncivilized - yes, I will try to remember to take some pics as suggested, but only if you go easy on me about the sail repairs (my leech is six inches of pure drag these days on account of my not being able to find the double sided tape at repair time).

Jim - yes, exactly. I am still optimistic about being able to better retain that bundle. Been using slide clips on straps but the smaller (1 inch) ones don't stand up to flogging too well. Foredeck nightmare trying to bundle it when the wind is up, as you say. The answer to that has so far been to ignore trying to bundle it at times, and just let it do its own thing until the time is right.

One thing I particularly like is how easy it is to shorten sail in a hurry. It can be done in just a few seconds by loosening the halyard and catching the next reef eye on the hook at the stem before re-tensioning. I am thinking it might also be done quite easily without leaving the cockpit at all, if I were to run lines from the reef points at the tack through a block at the stem and back to the cockpit. Thinking I could potentially reef, albeit untidily, in about 10-15 seconds without any foredeck adventures at all.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by mowerandy

Uncivilized - yes, I will try to remember to take some pics as suggested, but only if you go easy on me about the sail repairs (my leech is six inches of pure drag these days on account of my not being able to find the double sided tape at repair time).

Jim - yes, exactly. I am still optimistic about being able to better retain that bundle. Been using slide clips on straps but the smaller (1 inch) ones don't stand up to flogging too well. Foredeck nightmare trying to bundle it when the wind is up, as you say. The answer to that has so far been to ignore trying to bundle it at times, and just let it do its own thing until the time is right.

One thing I particularly like is how easy it is to shorten sail in a hurry. It can be done in just a few seconds by loosening the halyard and catching the next reef eye on the hook at the stem before re-tensioning. I am thinking it might also be done quite easily without leaving the cockpit at all, if I were to run lines from the reef points at the tack through a block at the stem and back to the cockpit. Thinking I could potentially reef, albeit untidily, in about 10-15 seconds without any foredeck adventures at all.

so, what would you do about the sheets?

Jim

[mowerandy]

Good question - was thinking along the lines of parallel set/s, attached before the need to reef arises. Sounds cumbersome and draggy and prone to tangling I suppose. I will have a tinker and see. The thing I am cautious of is any need to get to the pulpit/stem when the loose foot of the sail might be lying on the foredeck (hanging off the foredeck by a safety tether would not be a fun thing to do I reckon, particularly single handed)

[DMCantor]

Our Outbound 46 has a solent rig. There is a deeply cut 135% Genoa on the forestay, which we use for reaching in light to moderate conditions, and a flat-cut 105% solent sail that is rigged just below the Genoa on the mast, and just aft of it on the foredeck.

We LOVE this rig. In light winds, we get going with the Genoa. As the winds pipe up, we switch to the Solent, and can point higher and go faster. The flat-cut solent works pretty well when furled, even by 50% or more.

The only downside is that your really have to roll up the Genoa to tack or gybe it. But as cruisers, that only happens once or twice a day.

[hellosailor]

IIRC we used to refer to "roller furling" versus "roller reefing", where the furler was just intended to stow or fly a sail, 0% or 100%, and the sail was cut with that same purpose. As opposed to roller reefing, where the sail was cut, luff was padded, etc. all designed to give the sail a better shape to be used at all possible deployments, whether it was 100% or 80% or 50%.
I'm probably getting fuzzy over something but there definitely used to be a distinct split that way--even though the terms ALWAYS got mixed up by the general public.

Sailingfan-
If those hanks have been properly crimped onto the sail (and yes, they get semi-permanently CRIMPED on with a plier) they can't be lost overboard. They don't let go. The piston just retracts the jaw that clamps over the forestay. You quickly learn that the pistons must be given a shot of WD40 or a proper lubricant every month or two, which keeps them working "like butter". And they may need to be reversed, because they can be installed "left handed" or "right handed" and even that depends on whether you are facing aft, from in front of the sail, or facing forward alongside it.
If conditions (like 6' seas) don't make it dangerous to be up there...they're damn convenient, inexpensive, and they'll never have a foul or failure that can't be fixed without sending someone aloft or pulling the forestay. Not such a bad thing!
Sounds like that guy in the size 16 sneakers and fright wig installed them on your sail.

[Viking Sailor]

I recently read an article about slab reefing the jib. I can't remember where, when, or even who wrote the article. However, since I know that I am not smart enough to come up with the central idea in the article -- I must have read it. Anyway, to sum up, the idea is to add a zippered pouch with drain holes to the bottom of the jib to gather and hold the reefed portion of the sail. The authors big problem seem to be water collecting in the rolled up part of the sail and distorting the overall shape of the sail.

[hellosailor]

Speaking of odd headsail reefing, I've never seen one but remember reading (1980s) about job with a split zipper sewn in the foot. The idea being that you pulled together a couple of feet at the foot of the sail, zipped it together to "shorten" the sail and raise the foot, and voila, you were reefed.

Apparently that one never caught on big time either.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Speaking of odd headsail reefing, I've never seen one but remember reading (1980s) about job with a split zipper sewn in the foot. The idea being that you pulled together a couple of feet at the foot of the sail, zipped it together to "shorten" the sail and raise the foot, and voila, you were reefed.

Apparently that one never caught on big time either.

The Pardey's have written about a jib which amounts to the above. They call it a Bonneted Jib. Where they have a large jib made, mostly as per normal. And then fasteners, plus a a zipper are installed so that it can be "reefed" down. It's in one of their books. The Cost Conscious Cruiser

[kimtrang]

This is the only thing I could find on slab headsail reeling.

[brownoarsman]

I would think slabsail would suffer from at least one of the drawbacks of roller reefing (to borrow hellosailor's term which I think is apt). Namely, that you would be using a heavier cloth/different cut all over than might be called for so that it's hardy enough for conditions when reefed.

[UNCIVILIZED]

I know that quite obviously it represents a lot of cost, & complexity, especially when furlers & other hardware & running rigging are figured in. But the idea of adding a Trinquette, on it's own furler, to my earlier mentioned 3-headsail rig does have merit. Though some of that concept is derived from & for, light weight, high hp (sail area) to weight ratio, racing boats. An arena where spending quite a lot on sails & rigging is the norm. Unlike the sail inventories on most cruising boats, where good enough, really is. Especially given the cost of that last 5% performance wise. In dollars, & energy expenditures by the crew to shift gears/change sails.