Our original jib has to be replaced (thank you Hurricane Matthew). We are looking to add a 135. Other than needing to run the rigging outside the shrouds, has anyone seen/heard of/experienced any difficulties with taking on this larger headsail? We do race it in our regular Rum Race every wednesday, but we are mostly there for fun. Our primary objective is coastal cruising and having fun. It will be on a roller so it will be easy to reduce. Just curious if anyone has a similar set up.
135 Genoa on a Hunter 26
- Thread starter Greg Wozniak
- Start date
as a former dealer who was very much involved with the Hunter water ballast, the largest headsail on a roller furler which I presume you have the CDI FF2 is a 110 which you already have. There has been a lot said on this so you can research this on this site in the archives. If you will remember that sailing flatter vs. heeling over 12-14 degrees with sail control, you can and will competively be able to go fast. If in light airs, buy an a symmetrical spinnaker but you will need to install a spinnaker halyard and that needs to be place above the forestay.
CD, are you saying a 135 wouldnt fit on the roller furler? not sure of the model, but this is the CDI bought the boat in May of this year. see photo
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Boats designed with non-overlapping rigs like the H26 cannot fly headsails that well, overlap the rig. Your shrouds and spreaders come out the the gunwale. Trying to trim a genoa upwind around them would be a disaster, probably poke a hole in the sail, and would require a new genoa track anyway.
Jack, thanks for the input. we went with the 135 thinking it would be nice to have the option to have more sail when downwind and doing coastal cruising. we would put in either new outer track or spring blocks to run the sheets outside the spreaders/shrouds. i see what you are saying with the shrouds/spreaders upwind. In those conditions I guess we could just have it furled in and use the original tracks.
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With the help on this forum from CD and JD (above), I have rigged an asymmetric spinnaker (search forum topic) on my 1995 Hunter 26. US Sail out of Virginia made the sail which came with sock and deck bag; you get to pick the design and colors from their stock via internet. With this set up, my jib stays on its furler and the a-sym is easily launched out of and retrieved to the deck bag when wind conditions are suitable--best of both worlds. "Sail flat and fast, but it's a hoot to fly the chute!"
Thats really is the only way to do it.
While a big genoa on a furler sounds easier, the fact is that 90% of the time you will be using the sail partially furled, which is less than ideal in several ways.
Lighter air reaching is the weakest link in a non-overlapping rigged boat. This is particularly true on boats like the H26. While I applaud the company for using such a progressive rig, its clearly done for ease of use and not performance. With a SA/D ratio of less than 17, it REALLY needs help in lighter air when off the wind. And asym is the perfect solution.
JD; thank you for the response. Experience shows that anything larger than a 110 will not work due to configuration of boat. What many tend to forget is the mainsail is really a large mainsail for more power and with the 110 jib, the two combined would equal that of a standard main and proably a 140 genoa in total sail area.
For the Wed pm races flying a partially rolled 135 going upwind wouldn't sail to your rating. PHRF will still penalize you for the part of the sail that is rolled up. Not to mention, that on outside tracks you couldn't trim it in enough. Every aspiring racer feels that if they only had a bigger sail they would do better. But your sail plan is your sail plan. Work on better tactics, boat handling and boat prep. Not to be too personal but is your bottom always clean?
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Thanks for all the input.
SH: Yup, always keep the bottom clean.
Our neighbor and friend has had a 150 on his Hunter 26 for several years and has had great success with it. We enjoy the racing but it is mostly for the socialization and having fun. The asymmetric will have to be the 2017 purchase! I get the sail in next week and hopefully can get out on the water before thanksgiving. Will update this thread once I do. Thanks again for all the input.
SH: Yup, always keep the bottom clean.
Our neighbor and friend has had a 150 on his Hunter 26 for several years and has had great success with it. We enjoy the racing but it is mostly for the socialization and having fun. The asymmetric will have to be the 2017 purchase! I get the sail in next week and hopefully can get out on the water before thanksgiving. Will update this thread once I do. Thanks again for all the input.
Greg;
Found that keeping the heel to max 14 degrees with control of sails, knowledge of sailing area, experience and so on, I raced competively against many and won. Like I have told others adding a larger genoa than a 110 is in a sense overpowering the boat because the main is designed larger than normal for what was being achieved. Long story but later. I think the spinnaker is an excellen choice. You have no idea how involved I was with these boats at Hunter.
Found that keeping the heel to max 14 degrees with control of sails, knowledge of sailing area, experience and so on, I raced competively against many and won. Like I have told others adding a larger genoa than a 110 is in a sense overpowering the boat because the main is designed larger than normal for what was being achieved. Long story but later. I think the spinnaker is an excellen choice. You have no idea how involved I was with these boats at Hunter.
Sounds like Greg has ordered it. I'm interested to see how he likes it. Not that I want one, though. I'm happy with my sails and trust what Dave says. Just curious to see how Greg gets along with it. And remember, the world was once flat and a 10 lb. weight used to drop twice as fast as a 5 lb. weight.
Not sure exactly what he ordered but if a larger genoa, I will not advise. I have seen the aftermath of a 140 genoa added and helping to get a 26 water logged emptied and back on the trailer. Long story but at the owner's request, I will not discuss with anyone even you. No it was not me.
I'm willing to have an open mind about specific cases, but from experience and a technical perspective I'll tell you that this in general is a bad idea. Runnning a big genoa around a super-wide shroud-spreader base will make it impossible to point, and the sail will press hard on the spreader tip unless the sail is cut with a ridiculous amount of hollow.
Leaving it partially furled is a solution but an iffy one. The sail shape will be poor, and the big roll of sail will effect wind attachment on the sail.
Net-net, if you inherited a sail like this I'd say try it, but I'd never buy one. And unless the sailmaker has first-hand evidence that this is going to be satisfactory, I'm surprised he'd make one for you.
Leaving it partially furled is a solution but an iffy one. The sail shape will be poor, and the big roll of sail will effect wind attachment on the sail.
Net-net, if you inherited a sail like this I'd say try it, but I'd never buy one. And unless the sailmaker has first-hand evidence that this is going to be satisfactory, I'm surprised he'd make one for you.
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Hey Dave
I suspect I have a similar sail plan on our Hunter 30 (11 foot beam). It's fractional rigged with a big main. It also only has one set of jib tracks. Can I assume a 110 should also be my limit? We are cruisers but then we try to keep other sailboats from passing us. We are coming up on time to change out the sails, but I've done no research yet so have no idea what I'm going to want.
Ken
I would suggest posing that under the general Hunter forum as I limit myself to the trailerables. However, a lot will depend what year model of your boat, backstay or no backstay and so forth, swept back spreaders, etc...