Storm Trisail

[Sharkbrain]

Is it feasible to install an external sail track adjacent to the mainsail groove? As it stands now the batten cars make the sail stack so high that clearing the groove requires sliding the boom slugs aft, out of the boom to make space. This is an irksome process at best and attempting it in conditions requiring the the storm trisail would just be no fun at all. Instead, I'd like to be able to keep a trisail ready to fly on the track.

Jason

[Shoalcove]

That is how my CheoyLee35 is set up. The track runs down low to the deck so that you can store the trisail attached in a bag ready to go. There is a bolt tapped in at the bottom to keep it all from sliding out. Baba35-nice boat!!

[SV Demeter]

Selden Masts makes a nice kit for this although you can probably make it yourself from parts.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Shoalcove

That is how my CheoyLee35 is set up. The track runs down low to the deck so that you can store the trisail attached in a bag ready to go. There is a bolt tapped in at the bottom to keep it all from sliding out. Baba35-nice boat!!

Yep, had one that way too. (That way the never used trysail was free to corrode beyond use and out of the storage area!) Just kidding... well kinda.. :>)
PS: Be sure to figure out your bottom pendant length/ sheeting points etc before just tucking it away. There is often no good place to attach a sheeting block near cockpit center, so it takes some thought. My bottom pendant was quite long and SS cable.

[gjordan]

Install the second track with about an additional 5 foot above the sails optimal setting point. Then use the trysail at its highest point , sheeted to the stern to keep the boat from rolling in a really nasty anchorage. That is about the only practical use I ever found for a trysail. I have used them at anchor and it was wonderful, and I have used them under gale conditions and it was a waste of time. I could not get the boat to tack with the trysail, luckily I wasnt off of a lee shore. I feel that a third reef is more effective as a practical sail. If you decide to have one made, make sure to put a teak grate underneath it, so the bag does not sit on the deck, In the days of wooden ships and cotton sails , a trysail was needed. Now I doubt it._______ Just my opinion.____Grant.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by gjordan

Install the second track with about an additional 5 foot above the sails optimal setting point. Then use the trysail at its highest point , sheeted to the stern to keep the boat from rolling in a really nasty anchorage. That is about the only practical use I ever found for a trysail. I have used them at anchor and it was wonderful, and I have used them under gale conditions and it was a waste of time. I could not get the boat to tack with the trysail, luckily I wasnt off of a lee shore. I feel that a third reef is more effective as a practical sail. If you decide to have one made, make sure to put a teak grate underneath it, so the bag does not sit on the deck, In the days of wooden ships and cotton sails , a trysail was needed. Now I doubt it._______ Just my opinion.____Grant.

I second that opinion...

[islandplanet]

We often get involved with customers who are doing Pacific Cup race to Hawaii. Many of these boats will carry a trysail. We install a 7/8" external track on the mast. The preferred method of attachment is machine screws so we'll drill and tap the holes. Tefgel or Lanocote is used on fasteners to prevent corrosion. The track is long enough that there is some flexibility with sheeting.

If I was setting up a boat that I thought might actually use a trysail for any length of time, I'd suggest to the owner that we use a better slide than the typical external slides. Here's a slide that we like that's made by Ronstan (part#PNP47E) - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

So why this fancy slide? We actually use these quite a bit on mains for boats with external track. They don't chafe like the regular slides and allow for use of wider webbing.

As an alternative to carrying a storm trysail, we can set up a main so it can be deeply reefed and handle the loads. Twin ply construction at the head with large radial patches are combined with some extra reinforcement for the top reef. This is not something that is economical to do with an existing main but a consideration when building a new one.

Our thought is for the type of cruising most people do (in season tradewinds sailing), that a properly reinforced main with deep reef is adequate. Those venturing into higher latitudes or other areas with likelihood of encountering extreme weather are best served with a trysail.

If a trysail isn't deployed before needed chances are it's going to be a challenge setting it. There's much to be said for working with the main that's already up.

[gjordan]

I dont know what loft Island Planet works for ,but he sounds like a good one to make a new main for a cruiser. Deep reefs with extra strong construction in the upper part of the sail is a very good way to go. The only time I considered using the trysail on my first cruising boat was close hauled in heavy trades between the Tuamotus and Hawaii. We spent 6 days with double reefed main and storm jib, and I would have loved to have had a third reef point. I had a trysail , but it was such a pain to set, and would probably cost me 20 degrees of pointing, that I decided not to use it. I would not have made the Big Island if I had to fall of. We submarined our way to Hawaii at about 100 miles a day in a 26 footer. Less sail area that still set well would have been much better, and probably not cost us any speed at all. As I said before, I used the trysail on my next boat (37foot steel boat) and it wasnt worth spit. I would have been much better off with a well made 3rd reef.___ Again, this is just my opinion_____Grant.

[patchgraham]

not sure why the down on trysails- they are simple and can be set up to sail ok on modern cruiser/.racers that may not heave to very well. we sat for 48 hours (+storm jib)semi stalling into wind at a steady 35kn in steep nasty waves (between fiji and NZ -it had been blowing considerably harder but we had skirted this) that allowed us to keep speed down to 3-4 kn and stop the boat (crew)from bashing itself senseless/into oblivion. the separate track is primo! the last thing you want to do is try and take a huge main below in gale conditions. A triple reef main would be fine but many mains are not made with these conditions in mind, and the boom gooseneck arrangement is prone to decay and dissolution when put to the test (our factory beneteau model had crapped out in a 60Kn squall on another trip). if they haven't been allowed to rot trysails should be good to go and relatively bullet proof+.
the type of boat is probably important- a review of the sydney hobart disaster showed those boats heaving to didn't do so well but that may just reflect the racier end of the spectrum. with a full keel 'pardy' type boat (or heavier fin and skeg type) the heaving to with (seems a good idea once things are extreme enough to risk rolling the boat a-hull or hove to) or without para-anchor may be fine.

Either way as with all storm gear practice in the calm and then again in the rough before needing it for survival and you will get less nasty shocks and be much more confident

[gjordan]

My dislike of trysails comes from my first 8 or 9 thousand miles of cruising in an engine less boat. I consider anything that hurts your ability to claw off of a lee shore as a detriment to safety. From my own experience and talking to many cruisers I dont believe that any trysail will set as well as a third reef. It might be fine for heaving too, but is marginal at best for going to weather. If I had givin up and set the trysail on my passage to Hawaii, I probably would have ended up 150 miles or so, down wind of my intended destination. When I did use one on my next boat ( 37 foot fin keel steel boat) in winds that were over powering the double reefed main and storm jib, I found that it would not sail worth a damn, and I could not get the boat to tack. I had 50 miles to the lee shore so I didnt have to worry, but If there had been land under the lee , I would have really worried. In the ideal world a boat would have designated turning blocks(bullet proof) for sheeting the trysail , but in the real world most people use snatch blocks to an aft deck cleat or something like that. If you look at the almost 180 degree turn of the sheet and imagine what would happen if that block explodes under load, the situation gets ugly. I would not spend a dime outfitting a boat with a trysail, and if one came with a boat I bought, I would keep it handy untill I had a new main made with three reef points and then retire the trysail to under a bunk to only be used as a wonderful roll stopper. Opinions are like elbows and we all have a few, and this is mine_____Grant.