450: Down wind sails

[Rickthesailor]

Hi,

So after much research and listening to many opinions, we have gone with a North Sails G2 running gennaker. It is good to about 165 degrees off the bow, more if you want to attach the tack to the opposite bow... We also installed a Forespar bow sprit and a Harken Reflex top down furler...

While I liked the idea of a Parasailor/Wingaker, launching and retrieval were a stumbling point for us.

Tropical Sails in St Maarten did the G2, and FKG did the rigging... both are great to do business with...

Ernst from Tropical Sails went out with us to test the sail and ensure we knew how to launch, trim, and retrieve it. The first time it pop open was overwhelming; it is a large sail at 160 sq metres. At 15 kts apparent and 130 AWA we we sailing at 10 kts with just the G2...

The Harken Reflex took a bit to learn to use... need to keep tension on both sides of the furling loop to ensure that it furls properly... but when you do it right it is a sight to behold as it furls down from the top... since it furls down, the clew winds up quite high on the cable... everything above the clew is wound very tight and I doubt it would blow loose, and everything below the clew gets wrapped with the sheets... someone needs to go forward while this is being wrapped... once wrapped it should be able to handle most winds... I wouldn't leave it up in winds over 30...

The recommendation for gybing is to furl-gybe-unfurl....

The sheets are 40 metres each... and go to a low friction ring off the aft padeyes on each side, and then back to the large winch on the fly bridge.

The furling loop follows the same path as the jib furling line... we had a triple blocks put in on the deck and through the coach roof, and additional clutches installed.

We are going to modify the connection to the bow sprit so no one needs to climb out on the sprit to connect the furler. We will add a 2:1 block connected to the bow sprit with dyneema and then connect that to the furler base. This will allow us to raise the G2 about 25-30 cm higher and allow us to pull the base furler into the bow lifelines to connect and disconnect it without going out on the bow sprit...

Regards, Rick

[TravellingKiwis]

Nice one Rick.

We are about to order a Lagoon 42 so found this thread very interesting. Is their any difference in people's thoughts given the mast further back so a smaller main and larger jib (self tacking).

We will get the bow sprit so was tempted by a Code 0 on Furler and a wingaker for downwind. Any thoughts on this setup?

If ok, assume wingaker can be used without having to remove furled code 0?

Any advice appreciated.

[Rickthesailor]

Originally Posted by TravellingKiwis

Nice one Rick.

We are about to order a Lagoon 42 so found this thread very interesting. Is their any difference in people's thoughts given the mast further back so a smaller main and larger jib (self tacking).

We will get the bow sprit so was tempted by a Code 0 on Furler and a wingaker for downwind. Any thoughts on this setup?

If ok, assume wingaker can be used without having to remove furled code 0?

Any advice appreciated.

HI,

I would not get the Lagoon sprit.... You can get a Forespar or other manufactured sprit for about the same money and they will be much stronger... Here is my sprit, look at the stock Lagoon and compare...

How would you hoist your Wingaker?