Should I switch to hank on?

Aug 15, 2022
111
Catalina 22 14790 Redwood City, CA
I appreciate the wisdom of this forum. Currently have a full batten loose foot main sail with 2 reef points and a 135% on a roller furler. After looking at the head sail (previous owner had just purchased it before i bought the boat), It does have the foam luff and reefing markers for 125% and 110% respectively. ( i believe it is the 135 ullman setup CD sells). Boat is slipped in South SF bay and i will do most of my sailing here but I would like to trailer it in the future to new locations. I did feel like the heavy roller furler setup was added hassle to deal with when initially rigging the boat vs just a forestay would be. Also when trailering i needed to support the drum ect.. Anyways, with the high winds here, it was noted by a couple forum members that i'm running too much head sail. Should i switch to hank on and get a few headsails? I love having the furler for ease of deploying and reducing sail but i wanted to get the opinions of what everyone thinks. As for sails, CD has a 110, 75, and 50 for hank on sizes. All 3 or just the 110 and maybe the 75? Another note, i will probably be solo sailing more than i would like but i do have an autopilot. Thanks
 
Feb 28, 2022
213
Catalina 22 12482 Champaign-Urbana, IL
I have the hank on jib and can’t comment on your other questions, but wanted to add that if you do get one, you’ll probably need to rig a jib downhaul. SF Bay is windy, and in high winds, these jibs don’t just drop, a lot of times they stay up. It’s been nice to be able to quickly force mine down.
 
Aug 15, 2022
111
Catalina 22 14790 Redwood City, CA
Good point, i believe i have a downhaul setup from my old 82 swing keel boat that i sold. Never installed it, so i think its in a box somewhere
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,547
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
One of the most personal of all choices! Just rambling here ...

Solo sailing certainly tips the scales toward a furler. Not only for convenience, but also for the safety factor of being able to reduce (or douse) your headsail almost instantly. And sailing off anchor would be a cake walk. The down side is, you only have the perfect canvas for a small percentage of the conditions you may enounter. The rest of the time, you're wishing for either less or more canvas.

With two crew, it's not even a question. Hank on wins, hands down. We carry five headsails at all times, so we have the right canvas from 3 knots to 30. But there are two of us, and my wife is fearless about going forward. I keep the bow into the wind, while she does the sail change. I also handle running the sheets through the cars, around the winches, and putting stop knots in them. You can do all this stuff by yourself, obviously; it's just a lot more work. How's your stamina?? :biggrin:

The upside is huge, though. We can sail happily along under the 180 genny, when a 135 roller furler boat has to motor. At the other end of the spectrum, in heavy air we can sail nice and flat under our storm jib (and even make windward progress, to an extent) when the furler boat cannot.
 
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Likes: brockangelo
Aug 15, 2022
111
Catalina 22 14790 Redwood City, CA
Thanks gene, thats the kind of insight im looking for. I redid all the standing rigging and the package came with a forestay, which i still have coiled up in the bag. Im not sure what sail sizes would be best for here. I would assume a 110 is the biggest id want to go with.
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,780
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I think a Yankee jib would serve you very well on the Bay and has the added benefit of the clue being high cut, which gives you great visibility under it. Roller furling jibs didn't exist when I was sailing the bay and, as foredeck crew, I can tell you from personal experience that it wasn't a lot of fun going up to the foredeck and either tying the jib to the lifelines or swapping it out for another, through the forward hatch.The water was cold and the wind chill made it even worse. Also, as there are so many different wind speeds around the bay, the roller furling jib makes a lot of sense, especially for a singlehander..
However, I do understand your concerns about trailering your boat and how to transport the foil. Perhaps someone makes a furling setup for others in your position, that breaks down to convenient sections for traveling.
 

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
8,013
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
When I lived in Burlingame, sailing out of Coyote point on my buddy's Santana 22, a smaller, zero roach main with a suit of headsails was preferred. However, he rarely sailed single handedly, so with 1 or 2 additional crew, changing headsails was pretty cut and dry. As was reefing the main.

Single handing, however, was, and is, a different story. With today's furling technology, I'd have no problem single handing with a quality roller REEFING furler. This would be one that has a multi track, rigid, alloy foil, As opposed to a flexible luff type designed for trailering convenience, or even the hard plastic luff insert with the captive halyard(CDI). Neither of those type furlers allow for effective reefing and are impossible to sail change quickly especially the CDI type. The higher quality furler would allow you to carry essentially two sails. A genoa 120-140, and a jib 80-110. Instead of a padded luff I'd use the sewn in cord insert, much lighter, yet very effective. You can start with the smaller sail, move to the large one if desired.

Needless to say, a reliable tiller pilot is important. A single hander's #1 tool. A single line mainsail reefing system could also be helpful if it takes you longer than say 20-30 seconds to go forward to set the clew line and luff hook.

The rigid foil furlers are less practical on trailered boats, Not impossible, just a bit unwieldly when setting up and taking down. As a mobile sailor, I'd be inclined to go with the hank on system. I would start building an inventory of sails to suit the conditions. I'd go with four upwind sails, #1 genoa, #2 lapper, #3 blade and a #4 storm jib (65-75%). Regarding the #4 storm jib, It might make sense to rig the #4 on an inner forestay and keep it on the foredeck ready to hoist. Rigging a jib downhaul is really beneficial, too. I can't believe how much easier this simple tool makes foredeck sail handling.

Changing hank on sails. A couple things I found helpful.

First always carry a couple of sail ties in your pocket.

Next, store the sails with the hanks clipped to a wire pendant. when you bring it on deck the sail will be in position to make the transfer, new hanks on the stay, old hanks on the pendant. How you manage the halyard, tack and head... and the sequential change depends on preference and whether you have some help. A little practice will help you sort the procedure out. The important thing is you stay organized with both sails. In the end, the old sail will have the luff stacked vertically with all the hanks together... making for a long narrow package (folding pattern will look different than what you're probably used to seeing) that you can simply roll up from the clew, after switching the sheets over to the new sail.

Don't leave sheets attached to sails when storing....which means two sheets, not a single line like you do with a furled sail. If you have movable jib leads and marks on the track for each sail... you should be able to use the same set of sheets for all sails. Use a bowline, it's easy to tie and untie. Overall, separate sheets is more sensible, less work and easier on the rope over time.

Here's a case where having halyards run aft is an inconvenience if you're single handing. If the halyard is at the mast, you can bring the sail up on deck, roll it out in position, step back to the mast and drop the halyard. go forward to exchange the hanks, back to switch the sheets, hoist the sail and roll up the sail, pulling it aft to the foredeck hatch. You're done... just one trip forward. With the halyards led aft to cockpit (like my boat) you would drop the sail first, the go forward with the new sail... do the change, switch sheets, roll up old sail, drop down hatch, then back to cockpit for the hoist. whew! sounds like a lot more work, but it isn't really.

Okay, that was chatty of me... sorry.. hope there was something in there that may help. good luck, have fun.
 
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Likes: AaronD
Sep 24, 2018
2,657
O'Day 25 Chicago
While I don't own a C22 (sailed on one for a summer), I have owned boats with and without a furler. For small boats, Furlers are not only convenient, but add some safety in heavier waves. Despite our best efforts, sometimes the weather changes on a dime.

You could get some added convenience by using a jib bag and leading your halyard to the cockpit. You would of course have to re-pack or lash it down when you take the jib down
 
Sep 23, 2021
29
Catalina 22 Davis Island Yacht Club
What type of furler do you have? Our boat is equipped with a CDI furler that is not a problem to stow while trailering.

I support the past on a slight angle between the corner of the starboard pushpit and the pulpit (the angle makes entering the cabin much easier when the mast is stowed). The mast extends about 18" forward of the pulpit and 3' or so behind the pushpit. The furled jib lays across the pushpit, along the port rail inside the life lines and the furling drum rests on the brace at the pulpit. Easy-Peasy.

I'm an engineer. I routinely tell people that what most consider over-thinking, engineers consider thinking. So, I get it.

You might want sail your boat for awhile with the rig you have before you decide to change it. A fresh sail should work pretty well furled to the sail maker's reef points. If she lives in a slip, you won't be lowering the mast every outing, just when traveling.
 
Aug 15, 2022
111
Catalina 22 14790 Redwood City, CA
You might want sail your boat for awhile with the rig you have before you decide to change it. A fresh sail should work pretty well furled to the sail maker's reef points. If she lives in a slip, you won't be lowering the mast every outing, just when traveling.
[/QUOTE]

I have been sailing it as is for about a year now, tho I only went out a few times in the winter so really about 8 months of steady sailing. I guess it did probably sound like I had just gotten the boat. It is a cdi furler I suspect the same one you have. Thank you for the tips on trailering, I only trailered it once with the rigging on top of the boat. When I took it to get the bottom paint done, I pulled all the rigging off and stored it off the boat. I was muscling everything by myself however and it seemed like a handful.. the wind gusting at 25 didn't help either lol. The main concern I had was it felt like the boat was a little small for the sf bay, but with talking to other current or former sf bay sailors it seemed like I was running too much headsail so I started to question whether I should get a smaller furled sail or switch to hank ons. At some point I will get off the bay and start trailering the boat to lakes and ideally Lake Tahoe if I can get thru all the circus stuff they require to put a boat in the water there. Seems like a magical place to sail in a boat like this. Also the delta might be a cool cruise to do but seems to make more sense to trailer up there then sail it up. The 135 I have seems more ideal for these locations, so I am somewhat conflicted. I will try the reefing markers on the 135 which I never noticed before and see what that gives me for now. My wife feels like it gets too wild when I take her out but I seem to not mind. (she threw up over the side on our last trip, so the eagerness to go again has diminished). A lot of hobby horsing from the waves. (not sure if that is a good description).

Anyways, I love the boat and it is a dry sweet little setup for weekend cruising which is all I have time for at the moment. Im waiting on my froli bed kit to arrive (tomorrow finally) and then I will start sleeping on it more. Thanks guys.
 
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Likes: Gene Neill
Jan 19, 2010
12,432
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
One of the most personal of all choices! Just rambling here ...

Solo sailing certainly tips the scales toward a furler. Not only for convenience, but also for the safety factor of being able to reduce (or douse) your headsail almost instantly. And sailing off anchor would be a cake walk. The down side is, you only have the perfect canvas for a small percentage of the conditions you may enounter. The rest of the time, you're wishing for either less or more canvas.

With two crew, it's not even a question. Hank on wins, hands down. We carry five headsails at all times, so we have the right canvas from 3 knots to 30. But there are two of us, and my wife is fearless about going forward. I keep the bow into the wind, while she does the sail change. I also handle running the sheets through the cars, around the winches, and putting stop knots in them. You can do all this stuff by yourself, obviously; it's just a lot more work. How's your stamina?? :biggrin:

The upside is huge, though. We can sail happily along under the 180 genny, when a 135 roller furler boat has to motor. At the other end of the spectrum, in heavy air we can sail nice and flat under our storm jib (and even make windward progress, to an extent) when the furler boat cannot.
@Gene Neill summed up my thoughts also. I have always liked BETTER the way my boat sailed with hanked on jibs. If you are going to try that as a solo sailor then also think about getting an auto tiller that will hold you into the wind while changing out.

One thing I would add to Gene's summary is the fact that you can rig more than one head stay. If you have not already seen this, look up solent stays. Here is an older post on the solent (but please read more if you plan to go this way)


I used to sail with hanked on and when I wanted to change to a smaller sail, I would point up and then I would pull hard on the jib sheet and drop the jib with the down haul. I would then cleat off the sheet and leave the jib folded up nice along the gunwale. Then I would deploy the smaller jib. You could rig a solent so that you could deploy a heavy-air jib without leaving the cockpit.
 
Aug 15, 2022
111
Catalina 22 14790 Redwood City, CA
I used to sail with hanked on and when I wanted to change to a smaller sail, I would point up and then I would pull hard on the jib sheet and drop the jib with the down haul. I would then cleat off the sheet and leave the jib folded up nice along the gunwale. Then I would deploy the smaller jib. You could rig a solent so that you could deploy a heavy-air jib without leaving the cockpit.
[/QUOTE]

That is an interesting idea. I will look into that setup. Thanks.
 
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Likes: rgranger
Jan 19, 2010
12,432
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I fogot to mention that I would leave the larger sail hanked on when I deployed the small sail. I had a pendant that allowed the smaller sail to sit above.