What to do when overpowered?

[corsaircpt]

Hi , I have a technical question on this. When overpowered we move the mainsheet traveller box to leeward, put in our reefs for the main sail. Check. For jib we also arrange the lead positions appropriately, Check. For our jib, we put in our smallest Jib/Genova sail available, Check.

So now the question becomes, would it be appropriate to roll the jibsheet and reduce jibsheet size as opposed to leaving it completely unfurled to reduce further heeling and weather helm? I have heard two opinions on this before as in a) Don't do that, as you could harm the drum and the mechanism for jib sheet furling , with tensions it was not designed for b) Sure, do it

What are your thoughts , experiences ?

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by corsaircpt

Hi , I have a technical question on this. When overpowered we move the mainsheet traveller box to leeward, put in our reefs for the main sail. Check. For jib we also arrange the lead positions appropriately, Check. For our jib, we put in our smallest Jib/Genova sail available, Check.

So now the question becomes, would it be appropriate to roll the jibsheet and reduce jibsheet size as opposed to leaving it completely unfurled to reduce further heeling and weather helm? I have heard two opinions on this before as in a) Don't do that, as you could harm the drum and the mechanism for jib sheet furling , with tensions it was not designed for b) Sure, do it

What are your thoughts , experiences ?

Jibs or genoas can be partially furled without any trouble or harm at all - furling drums are designed to be used partially furled. As long as they’re properly sized for your boat and the sail that is carried. Point (a) is nonsense.

Furling the jib will reduce heeling moment as you’re reducing sail area. Reduced heel will reduce weather helm due to hull shape. But furling the jib may increase weather helm due to the centre of effort of the sails moving aft. So, it depends.

Once a furled jib is more than 30% furled (that is, less than 70% of the sail still out) it is going to be less efficient due to the bulk of the roll, and in deep furling the sail shape suffers as well. This doesn’t matter as much if you’re not beating to windward.