Sailing without the main.

[contrail]

Yep, depends on the boat. An older masthead rig, with small high aspect rig and big jib can often be sailed well, under jib alone, on any point of sail, whereas it is much harder with just the main up. A fractional rig with big main is usually the opposite. Of course, folks who have trouble with the latter need to realize that without the jib up, the main is sailing in "clean air", rather than air deflected by the jib, and thus needs to be eased out or the boat will stall. This doesn't mean sailing lower.



In my experience, heel can affect balance every bit as much as center of effort. Minimize heel by reducing any of the sails reduces the tendency to round up. However, it is also important to remember that a sail is designed for a range of wind speeds. Dropping one sail completely can put the other sail out of its designed range and help shorten its life.

[Sailmonkey]

It depends

Our ketch, with the main mast stepped more forward than the cutter version, and the deepest draft below the mizzen mast, is quite happy with headsail only on any point below a beam reach. Once coming above a beam reach combinations of sails start to be required.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Fiddlesticks.

[Cheechako]

Works ok in some situations. Usually when I'm lazy and downwind or broad reach! Downwind in lighter wind you don't have the main blanketing the headsail and it's often better.... and a lot less stress than trying to manage a floppy main!
If the wind is not light though, your boat can become unsteerable if you are near civilization.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Fiddlesticks

Hi all,

I've been watching a few YouTube sailing videos where the response to strong winds has been to drop the mainsail altogether and just use the headsail.

Meanwhile I'm reading about the theory of sailing.. no experience yet... But I'm given to understand that this could lead to unbalanced sails and would create lee helm.

Do they only do this going straight downwind? If not, what's going on?

Thanks
An (interested) non-sailor.

What boat? Sea state height and period. Things on You Tube?

[GILow]

Depends on the boat. My cutter rigged Swanson 42 prefers no main, that’s the last sail I hoist. Sails extremely well with the the yankee and staysail in everything up to about 50 degrees apparent.

[TrentePieds]

Fiddlesticks:

All that my forum-mates have said is perfectly true. I just wonder if you are yet at a stage of knowledge regarding sailboats that it makes sense to you. So let me reduce it to the most elemental answer: OLD-FASHIONED boats "sail on" their mainsails. MODERN boats sail on their headsails. That means that your response to given wind and wave conditions will be different depending on whether you are sailing an old-fashioned or a modern boat.

Again reduced to the simplest of concepts: CRUISING boats are in many ways best when they are OLD-FASHIONED (even if newly built). RACING boats are best when they are MODERN boats. Whether a boat is one thing or the other has to do not only with the SAIL PLAN but also with the UNDERWATER PROFILE.

MOST boats you see in YouTube clips and on the market are designated for MARKETING reasons as Cruiser/Racers and are neither fish nor fowl, but that is what the market has demanded for the last half century. They lean towards the "modern" end of the design spectrum, and what you see around you are therefore boats that "sail on" their headsails.

If you would begin to understand these things, go to Amazon and find a copy of Skeene's Elements of Yacht Design by Francis Kinney. It'll set you back all of thirty bux, so for the price of a coupla cases of beer you'll get a really, really good start on understanding a really, really complex topic :-)

All the best,

TrentePieds

[Fiddlesticks]

Some great responses, thank you. Learning as much as I can before taking the plunge...

[thomm225]

Sailing without the main is fine most times downwind even if your headsail furler is jammed and you cannot control the amount of sail that's presented.

Upwind the main is most important for control.

First video downwind; second upwind/reach (jib furled a bit due to wind strength that just came up. Notice the boat's heel)

Autopilot is doing the steering on both videos so the sails are not overpowering the rudder otherwise I'd have to take control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agtdrmAqojs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3I2zc0_7wY

[Sandydog]

Here's the thing. I am older as well. I am not out to race. I don't even move the traveler. So, just sail and enjoy the wind and water. Using the head sail when the wind is aft is the most comforting.

[billknny]

That's the key point: It DEPENDS. Different boats behave differently. The idea that the experience on one boat can be applied to all others is held by people who have not sailed a lot of different boats.

Some boats are "main sail powered" and others are "jib powered". They are not all the same. Some boats can tack just fine under jib alone, with others it is a struggle--at best.

By the way, if you are in a situation where you have a jib only up, and you NEED to tack, but can't, the solution is: Throw the helm the other way and gybe! It's easy under jib alone

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Fiddlesticks

Some great responses, thank you. Learning as much as I can before taking the plunge...

Good! Very smart! But don't let too many articles or youtubes get you too nervous... as you gain experience you will see how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

[Barbaria]

Originally Posted by Fiddlesticks

Hi all,

I've been watching a few YouTube sailing videos where the response to strong winds has been to drop the mainsail altogether and just use the headsail.

Meanwhile I'm reading about the theory of sailing.. no experience yet... But I'm given to understand that this could lead to unbalanced sails and would create lee helm.

Do they only do this going straight downwind? If not, what's going on?

Thanks
An (interested) non-sailor.

In strong winds, and possibly breaking waves we do not want to risk turning the boat around to reef the main if the wind gets stronger. That is why we will only sail with the roller Genoa. Rolling inn the main sail while sailing downwind can make it jam. Rolling in the Genoa is pretty easy downwind.

[Dockhead]

This.

It really depends on the boat.

For this boat, helm balance is a linear function of heel angle and is not detectably influenced by sail balance.

We can sail nicely on any point of sail on jib only, and often do.

Ditto for main only, but when sailing deep with main only you CAN feel the aftward displaced center of pressure, which reduces directional stability.

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

Accurate answer “it depends”

Our fractional sloop, with good sails (good shape, low stretch), sailed very nicely and balanced right up to a very close reach on #3 jib alone. She would also sail well under reefed (we are talking windy conditions) mainsail alone.

Quite a bit of ‘balance problems” come from hull shape and heel - sail a sweet hull, sail it flatish, (and with well shaped sails, not stretched out) and usually your balance problems will go away.

[meirriba]

In addition to all things mentioned, there is one more thing to consider. When you sail very deep with two sails, the mainsail blankets the genoa. So using one sail is fine. Or, wing or wing (with preventer...)