Want To Buy: Storm jib and try sail for main

[northoceanbeach]

A try sail is a storm main right? I basically want very tiny sails that are super thick and sturdy so that if I ever get caught out in a real blow, I can still put something up and have steerage instead of going bare poles, or reeding my main and risking ripping it up.

I have a 28 foot boat and both my main and jib are normally about 200 square feet.

Let me know what you have. I do have some stuff I can trade or money, depending on what you need.

[Don C L]

I have a boat similar to yours. What are you preparing for? I have a trysail (to put up after the main is down) which came with the boat but ideally the trysail has a separate track to raise it on (mine doesn't.) I still am not sure when I'd use it though because if it's really blowing I'll probably be broad/beam reaching with only the reefed jib for reasons of simplicity, balance and avoiding broaching. I opted for that after talking it over with my sailmaker. He pointed out most folks never pull the storm jib out. Now if it is blowing 45, 50 or more isn't it time to be thinking of heaving-to or laying out a drogue? In this boat I have now, a Columbia 29, I have only been out in 25 to 30 knots, and broad reaching with a full working jib was fine and it handled well with plenty of speed and not too much broaching. I am curious about the best arrangement for our boats given their design and displacement though.

[northoceanbeach]

I'm curious what is best for our boats too. Hopefully we will find out the right sail inventory to have and the best sail combination to use in the given conditions.

I have a jib boom so I just got reef points installed in my jib and just installed blocks and stuff on the boom so I can reef just like my main. It is pretty hard to get it just right, but I have had it right twice now and it looked beautiful. It heals shape so well it looked just like a mini jib. So I know the sailmaker did a great job. I just need to play with it more.m It's like a 70% reefed.

My main has two reef points. I could get a third but in those conditions it's just going to get torn apart. I would rather have a trysail to put up and get trashed. Save my jib and main.

I may never be out in 40 plus but I have to feel like I'm prepared. Yeah, you might run from it and then a reefed jib would work, but what it you had to claw your way off a Lee shore or at least keep yourself not sailing downwind?

[boatman61]

I have not seen a 'dedicated' storm trysail on a boat in years.. and have never hoisted a storm jib in spite of riding out some serious blows and huge sea's..
Mind.. I am a practitioner of heaving to when I feel conditions are starting to stress the boat.. and the hell with the schedule..
The only sails ever blown out have been mainly coz they're old and stitching shot by UV and salt.. one main went in a teeny F5..
As for the lee shore situation.. its often talked about but if you find yourself caught in that situation its your own fault with todays weather services..
Your basically talking of means used before engines became the norm in leisure sail boats.. today you don't need to be so 'Salty'.. just use the money on getting your engine up to scratch and use the space for something else.. instead of two bundles of canvas slowly mouldering away.

[El Pinguino]

I don't have a trysail but I do have a good deep third reef.

I do have 3 storm jibs... small, smaller, and smallest.... and I do use them rather a lot but rarely in storms which I try to avoid.

[boatman61]

Another thing often talked about 'Running Before'...
Possible in some boats.. not in others.. its down to the hull shape..
I've done 14kts with bare poles on a 37ft Hunter Cherubini..
and near buried the boat on a Hurley... that was the last time I ran before a storm..
Once you go over hull speed on certain boats the freeboard starts vanishing.. fast... not nice..

[over40pirate]

I have a North Sails Try Sail for sale.
It's in great condition.
It has 1/2" round sail slugs on the luff.
The Luff is approx. 15' and the foot approx. 10'
Sail is heavily built.
$230, including shipping
If interested send a PM as I don't view the classifieds that often.

[sunbear1]

lots of charts on sizes ofstorm sails forsize of boat online

[Cheechako]

I've had both trysails and 3rd reefs. In the end I preferred the third reef setup. Either is messy. My trysails were stored in a bag at the base of the mast, on their own track and already on that track. It was a bit messy, and the sail was difficult to sheet properly as well as difficult to get up the track.
If going with a trysail you need to determine where you want to sheet from. Often it may be somewhere near the rear of the cockpit.
If you are going to be sailing the roaring 40's then I would probably take the time to properly setup a trysail. If not, I would likely go with a 3rd reef.

[Don C L]

Well to get directly to your request for sails, I recommend checking Minney's in Costa Mesa and Bacon Sails back in MD for used sails. Trysails and storm jibs are likely to be in nearly new condition. As far as clawing off a lee shore with our boats, I am thinking your rig with the staysail and a third reef is your best hope, but, depending on seas, chances are our boats are too small to make much headway in 40+knots. As far as I know, trysails are for stability off the wind or for heaving to, but don't offer much drive to windward. Better to invest in the the big anchor that can be deployed easily! By the way you are looking for sail weights greater than 7 or 8 oz for the storm sails. We don't get 40+ knots around here often so it is hard to go out and practice different configurations, but I am looking forward to it! You have a very well-respected boat for handling all kinds of conditions so you can try lots of options with it.

[DefinitelyMe]

Unless you have a dedicated trysail track on the mast and anticipate regularly sailing in heavy weather on a lee shore i wouldn't bother with the trysail. A deep-reefed main will pretty much do the same thing, and if it's really, really windy you won't want to be going upwind anyway and you will want to move the centre of effort forward in that case, so a storm jib will be all you need.

I have used my storm jib once and that was when it probably wasn't even necessary. The one time i really needed it i couldn't use it because by that time it was too dangerous to be on the foredeck. It's a hank-on which sets on the inner-headstay, and it would have been virtually impossible to set in those conditions. Now it will stay permanently hanked on to the inner headstay with a halyard and sheets attached whenever i think i might encounter heavy weather on passage.

[jreiter190]

May I respectfully suggest you and the other posters read HEAVY WEATHER SAILING by Adlard Coles before proceeding? Theoretical Sailing is all well and good but no way to prepare oneself for conditions that will manifest themselves in the future. That said,and having survived typhoons as well as whole gales, I feel a 3rd reef in the main AND a try sail are in order. They have different applications. A fifeteen foot hoist with a 10' foot describes a try sail for a fifty foot boat. You need to match the sail to the length and weight of the boat. This is the only time you can do this because you're doing it for YOUR boat, not one you're going to deliver. The idea that "if this happens, I'll just....." isn't wise planning, just theoretical sailing. Storm sails don't take up much room 'cause they're SMALL. Use them as pillows in the forecabin. Read Adlard Coles and you will have the benifit of real world experience.

[over40pirate]

The Try sail I have with the 15' hoist was actually made for a 38' boat, for the 1 Ton Cup race.

[jreiter190]

The guy has a 28 foot boat.I didn't mean any thing was wrong with your sail. Have you ever deployed your sail in winds of, say, over force six? What we're the results?

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by jreiter190

May I respectfully suggest you and the other posters read HEAVY WEATHER SAILING by Adlard Coles before proceeding? Theoretical Sailing is all well and good but no way to prepare oneself for conditions that will manifest themselves in the future. That said,and having survived typhoons as well as whole gales, I feel a 3rd reef in the main AND a try sail are in order. They have different applications. A fifeteen foot hoist with a 10' foot describes a try sail for a fifty foot boat. You need to match the sail to the length and weight of the boat. This is the only time you can do this because you're doing it for YOUR boat, not one you're going to deliver. The idea that "if this happens, I'll just....." isn't wise planning, just theoretical sailing. Storm sails don't take up much room 'cause they're SMALL. Use them as pillows in the forecabin. Read Adlard Coles and you will have the benifit of real world experience.

Thanks for getting me back on course. I have to confess I hadn't looked at that book in years. It is really a great book. Being a fan of Olin Stephens, I especially like reading his thoughts on the subject. I am curious (and I think the OP is too, don't mean to hijack the thread!) what you and others have found that works best as wind speeds reach X knots and/or seas reach X, etc., for your particular boat.