Parasailor owners

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

For the ARC rally I need a good downwind sail. We have a hanse 385 37' mono and keep hearing about these parasailor sails and how they are used a lot on the ARC.

The website looks good, but I wanted to hear from some actual owners if you're out there before I drop £2500 on this.

Few questions I have below:

1. How easy are they to use? We'll be double handed so need something very easy to handle.

2. If we hit a squall what happens? How easy is it to get the sail down in sudden high winds?

3. Do you need to reinforce the bow to use these? Do they place tension anywhere we need to be aware of?

4. Anything else you noticed, tips, experiences.

Any advice would be most welcomed.

Thanks in advance,
Simon



Please visit my blog:
Sailing-Interlude | Sailing the Med… and beyond

[monte]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

For the ARC rally I need a good downwind sail. We have a hanse 385 37' mono and keep hearing about these parasailor sails and how they are used a lot on the ARC.

The website looks good, but I wanted to hear from some actual owners if you're out there before I drop £2500 on this.

Few questions I have below:

1. How easy are they to use? We'll be double handed so need something very easy to handle.

2. If we hit a squall what happens? How easy is it to get the sail down in sudden high winds?

3. Do you need to reinforce the bow to use these? Do they place tension anywhere we need to be aware of?

4. Anything else you noticed, tips, experiences.

Any advice would be most welcomed.

Thanks in advance,
Simon



Please visit my blog:
Sailing-Interlude | Sailing the Med… and beyond

Hi Simon. The parasailor has been a great sail for us. We have 125m2 one, retail is around 7000 euro, the cost goes up a lot with size.. What size are you looking at? Also I believe the ARC offers a discount for participants. Another option is a wingaker, similar design and much less expensive, I've heard good reviews on those as well. You can see a demo or two on YouTube.
As far as your questions, for us it is very easy to use 2 handed, although it may be a a little easier as we are on a cat and have a large foredeck to work on. It can be used without a spinakker pole on a mono but I do see a lot using a pole as well.
They can be left up in stronger winds than a spinakker so that makes for easier handling and less sail changes. Also the main and jib aren't used so it saves on wear and tear. The highest wind we have dropped ours to date is about 25k TWS and it was very easy, I think 35k would be manageable with ours and definitely with a smaller size it shouldn't be a problem.
Another less expensive downwind option to consider is adding another jib if you have a double track on the furler. This configuration is very easy to handle, both jibs furl together as needed and in a squall you simply ease the sheets to spill the wind. I think twin headsails would only work from around 170 degrees apparent, where the parasailor works around to 120 degrees.
Parasailor can have up to 6-8 weeks delivery time for new orders.

[simonpickard]

Thanks Monte,

Not sure we'd need one that big. We're only a 37' mono so I'm guessing a much smaller sail?

Do you have the snuffer?

Could I ask a bit about how it's rigged as well and if you needed to add any additional reinforcements to any area?

Regards,
Simon



Please visit my blog:
www.sailing-interlude.com

[monte]

Hi Simon. I'd guess the size for you would either be the 90m2 or 110m2. Check with parasail or and they will confirm your options. They all come with the snuffer. It's needed to drop the sail and keep it tidy. It would be impossible to use without it.
Our riffing is pretty simple, we just added a block on each bow, but that's on a cat, I'm not sure what's recommended for a mono or what hardware you already have. It will at least require a spinnaker halyard and 2 aft turning blocks on the rail that can be lead to a winch. It's also likely you will want a pole and associated rigging.


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[simonpickard]

Thanks, we've emailed them for a quote so we'll see what they say. Does sound like a good sail though.

We were hoping to avoid the pole, which I think is doable, we have a spin halyard so will just need the blocks I'm guessing plus some reinforcers on the bow possibly.



Please visit my blog:
www.sailing-interlude.com

[simonpickard]

Hey Monte,

Just put our order in for a new Parasailor 105 Sq Meter sail in Passion red! Support and advice from them was amazing. Can't wait to fly it now and hopefully should be a fast, safe, sail for our trip across the Atlantic and then back to Sydney next year.

Best regards,
Simon

[monte]

Well done. Yes their customer service and after sales support seems very good. There's a thread on here with some good tips, but mostly catamaran related but you should still be able to glean some good info from it, or start a parasailor on mono thread as well. Cheers from not so sunny Gibraltar.

[eastlands]

Hi Simon,
Just wondering how you have found using the parasailor?
I am considering what light airs / downwind sail to get for my new H385. At the moment I am considering a Furlstrom or a gennaker which might be better off the wind.
Have you managed without a pole?
What (apparent) wind angles and speed do you think you can use this sail in?

[simonpickard]

Hi,

I haven't taken ownership of it yet but as soon as it's up and running I'll let you know.



Please visit my blog:
www.sailing-interlude.com

[weavis]

Very interested in the principle of the Parasailor. Im a lazy operator and only like 2 sails and little changing. Prefer to reef and roll in.

I saw one on a 30 footer in the Bristol Channel in UK a couple of weeks ago... heading away with no Mainsail that I saw in a quick glance. Was not hanging around at all.!

[Kestrahl]

Another recent thread about these on sailing a, one interesting post in there with honest feedback.

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