What is best cruising headsail to buy for western Lake Ontario

[GetawayMirage24]

I have a Mirage 24, I am just cruising western Lake Ontario and do not want to race. If I'm buying one new headsail, what would be best one to buy? 115% Jib; 135% Genoa; or 150% Genoa? I have a storm jib in good shape and an older 115% Jib that is pretty beat. I can not get the leech or foot to not flap, even when the sail is well trimmed and telltales are streaming right, regardless of snatch lock location.

[Brob2]

Originally Posted by GetawayMirage24

I have a Mirage 24, I am just cruising western Lake Ontario and do not want to race. If I'm buying one new headsail, what would be best one to buy? 115% Jib; 135% Genoa; or 150% Genoa? I have a storm jib in good shape and an older 115% Jib that is pretty beat. I can not get the leech or foot to not flap, even when the sail is well trimmed and telltales are streaming right, regardless of snatch lock location.

your local sailmaker will give you the best advice having cut hundreds of sails for the area, but I would make the following suggestions for western Lake Ontario which doesn't experience a lot of wind excepting the occasional line squall :

-have the foot cut reasonably high for good visibility since you're not racing
-with storm jib available and a foot cut off the deck you can go for the larger size of 135 or 150. I would choose 150 but if your crew is the 'lets not get too tippy' kind 135 is fine.

If your Mirage is in good shape you have a bought a wonderful boat. Nice looking too. I sailed for years out of Burlington Bay and Bronte.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, GetawayMirage.

[Siberianhusky]

I sail the other end of the lake on a C&C 25, 150% gets the most use by a long shot.

[Brob2]

Originally Posted by Siberianhusky

I sail the other end of the lake on a C&C 25, 150% gets the most use by a long shot.

...and where it's generally breezier.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Brob2

your local sailmaker will give you the best advice having cut hundreds of sails for the area, but I would make the following suggestions for western Lake Ontario which doesn't experience a lot of wind excepting the occasional line squall :

-have the foot cut reasonably high for good visibility since you're not racing
-with storm jib available and a foot cut off the deck you can go for the larger size of 135 or 150. I would choose 150 but if your crew is the 'lets not get too tippy' kind 135 is fine.

If your Mirage is in good shape you have a bought a wonderful boat. Nice looking too. I sailed for years out of Burlington Bay and Bronte.

The original poster does not say if he/she sails solo and/or has hank-ons, which would affect my answer, but I generally agree with the above advice. The "135" or "150" is not going to apply if you have that high cut jib, because the area will be down to about 120% of the foretriangle area with a high cut. If you have hank-ons, which I would prefer at 24 feet LOA for pointing ability, you could have a sail cut a little short in the hoist so that it's a "decksweeper" in good air and can be used with a tack pennant in less good air. This gives you visibility forward but also the option to capture the winds that sometime lurk 10 feet off the deck, as was the case yesterday.

For the record, I sail out of Toronto on a hank-on Viking 33 and this photo shows my No. 2 (120%) on a reach. She's for sale if you want a bigger boat!

[FamilyVan]

I'm a Lake Ontario Sailor, the biggest sailing problem on lake Ontario is lack of wind, I'd say get the 150, cut high so you can see where your going.

Sent from my XP7700 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Stu Jackson]

A very illuminating and interesting discussion on co.com for those of you who might be in the market for a new jib.

Big Jib or Small Jib - SailboatOwners.com

Please read all three pages. Enjoy.

[GetawayMirage24]

Hey All, original poster here again. Appreciate all the good advice and am certainly open to more. In respect to last post, I have hank on now and do sail solo a lot, at least 50% of the time and when I have crew along they are not alway experienced so a furling headsail is definitely in the plans. I sail out of Bronte Outer Harbour Marina in Oakville and when the wind is from the east for a couple of days we get some pretty wild swells in the west end of the lake. Going forward on deck to raise or lower the jib in those swells when sailing solo is a little hairy! As far as last posters offer to trade up to a bigger boat, that won't happen. While in University i worked summers of '76; '77; and '78 at Mirage Yachts in Vaudreuil just west of Montreal building Mirage 24's. 3 of us were the only 24 builders for those 3 summers. 3 years ago when I started to look for a Mirage 24 in good shape to buy I found one in really nice shape in Port Elgin. When I went to see her, she was in beautiful shape. i checked the serial number and the last 4 digits were 0676 which means I built her with my 2 partner while at Mirage in '76. She's mine now, 39 years later!

[FamilyVan]

Sweet background, stick with the mirage 24. I know you don't get a lot of East Winds in Bronte peak season. If you do, get some, use the storm jib you already have.

Easterlies can be a bugger at that end of the lake, but they are the exception, not the norm.

Sent from my XP7700 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[markpierce]

Get a couple of new jibs. A 100-110 jib and a genoa in the neighborhood of 150 percent. You also need to consider the cloth weight. Consult a local, knowledgeable sailmaker.