Hi Don, I'm putting a new roller furler on my Cal 34 Mk1. I was going to put a 150 on, but two more experienced sailor frinds of mine have both told me to put on the 135, not the 150. Another friend said to put on a high clew 110. Which one do you suggest I use? I'll use the boat mostly for cruising, but occasionally race in races such as the Newport Ensenada race. And other yacht club races on the Southern California to Mexico coasts. Thanx, Jim
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Furlilng Genoa size
The optimum size of your furling genoa depends a lot on the ambient wind conditions where you sai, what type of sailing you do, your boat type, and the ability of your furler to shorten sail. If you sail and only race now and then in an area with predominately light winds (like here on the Chesapeake Bay), I think a 150 with a foam luff and good quality furler is a good choice. Contrary to popular opinion that states you can only roll up a big sail about 30 per cent, I find I can roll up my sail to almost any size and still get decent performance for the conditions. World cruiser Webb Chiles has written about doing this successfully many times. If you sail in winds that tend to be strong most of the time, then a 135, also with a foam luff, would be the choice. You can hardly go very wrong with a sail this size and will only lose some performance on very light wind days. I don't think a 110 is useful for anything much other than a backup sail. I have one in a bag and hardly ever use it.
The optimum size of your furling genoa depends a lot on the ambient wind conditions where you sai, what type of sailing you do, your boat type, and the ability of your furler to shorten sail. If you sail and only race now and then in an area with predominately light winds (like here on the Chesapeake Bay), I think a 150 with a foam luff and good quality furler is a good choice. Contrary to popular opinion that states you can only roll up a big sail about 30 per cent, I find I can roll up my sail to almost any size and still get decent performance for the conditions. World cruiser Webb Chiles has written about doing this successfully many times. If you sail in winds that tend to be strong most of the time, then a 135, also with a foam luff, would be the choice. You can hardly go very wrong with a sail this size and will only lose some performance on very light wind days. I don't think a 110 is useful for anything much other than a backup sail. I have one in a bag and hardly ever use it.
150 or 135 genoa on roller furler
Jim: Warren prety much covered it. I would not waste money on a 110.I believe your boat is a masthead rig and as such the engine is the jib. There is just not enough power in a 110 - to me it is more of a storm sail. Even if your boat is a fractional rig I would not buy a 110. On my Catalina 30, I originally had a 150. Most of the time I single handle the boat (my wife is with me but she does not want any part of sail trim - which is fine with me as long as she goes on the boat with me) and the 150 was a little too much for me to handle, even with all my control lines run back to the helm. The sail did what it was suppose to do - power the boat and that it did. I ended up selling the sail to a mate on the Catalina list and switched to a high cut 135. It worked OK but if I had it to do over again I would get a 135 with a lower cut - not a deck sweeper but just a very little above the safety lines. Even with the high cut 135, I could be race competitive with the middle of the pack but that would be as far as it goes. Sometimes, while cruising, I would hang around out of range during the start of local races and start when they started. I was far enough away so as not to interfer but started when they did. I would run the windward leg with them and then wonder over to the last leg and run that one. I had no trouble keeping up with the middle of the pack and I was just fooling around from a sail trim standpoint. Even when I stopped fooling around and got serious I could not improve my position much. The sail just did not have enough power. If I had a 135 deck sweeper, I probably could have picked up a couple of positions. The bottom line is the high cut 135 will work fine from a cruising standpoint but from a race standpoint you won't be very competitive beyond the middle of the pack. I assume your buying the sail locally, so your sail maker would be a great source of advise. The advise we get from dock neighbors, and even me, adds to the knowledge you need to have in order to talk to the sail maker but he is the expert and can design the sail you need, which will be a good mix between cruising and racing but it will be a mix.
Jim: Warren prety much covered it. I would not waste money on a 110.I believe your boat is a masthead rig and as such the engine is the jib. There is just not enough power in a 110 - to me it is more of a storm sail. Even if your boat is a fractional rig I would not buy a 110. On my Catalina 30, I originally had a 150. Most of the time I single handle the boat (my wife is with me but she does not want any part of sail trim - which is fine with me as long as she goes on the boat with me) and the 150 was a little too much for me to handle, even with all my control lines run back to the helm. The sail did what it was suppose to do - power the boat and that it did. I ended up selling the sail to a mate on the Catalina list and switched to a high cut 135. It worked OK but if I had it to do over again I would get a 135 with a lower cut - not a deck sweeper but just a very little above the safety lines. Even with the high cut 135, I could be race competitive with the middle of the pack but that would be as far as it goes. Sometimes, while cruising, I would hang around out of range during the start of local races and start when they started. I was far enough away so as not to interfer but started when they did. I would run the windward leg with them and then wonder over to the last leg and run that one. I had no trouble keeping up with the middle of the pack and I was just fooling around from a sail trim standpoint. Even when I stopped fooling around and got serious I could not improve my position much. The sail just did not have enough power. If I had a 135 deck sweeper, I probably could have picked up a couple of positions. The bottom line is the high cut 135 will work fine from a cruising standpoint but from a race standpoint you won't be very competitive beyond the middle of the pack. I assume your buying the sail locally, so your sail maker would be a great source of advise. The advise we get from dock neighbors, and even me, adds to the knowledge you need to have in order to talk to the sail maker but he is the expert and can design the sail you need, which will be a good mix between cruising and racing but it will be a mix.
150 or 135 genoa
Thanks for the input Don and Warren. I'll be sailing in light winds of Marina Del Rey mostly but I do want to sail down to Mexico. Having never done that I don't know what the conditions are. I do know just around the bend of the Santa Monica Bay at San Pedro the winds always blow harder. Dave Ullman of Ullman sails is making the genoa, I've had a brief conversation with him on the phone (He's making the sails for my friends Cal 40 "Ralphie", who sails almost exclusively Transpac to Hawaii). Dave recommended the 135 also. After the 4th, I will call him again and have a longer discussion because although I don't race exclusively I do like to go fast. I've installed a Martec folding prop even tho a lot of cruisers don't recommend it, and I'm installing a Harken roller furler. I will probably take yours and Dave's advise Don, and get a lower cut 135 since I'm a pretty new sailor and I don't want something I can't handle even if it is faster.
Thanks for the input Don and Warren. I'll be sailing in light winds of Marina Del Rey mostly but I do want to sail down to Mexico. Having never done that I don't know what the conditions are. I do know just around the bend of the Santa Monica Bay at San Pedro the winds always blow harder. Dave Ullman of Ullman sails is making the genoa, I've had a brief conversation with him on the phone (He's making the sails for my friends Cal 40 "Ralphie", who sails almost exclusively Transpac to Hawaii). Dave recommended the 135 also. After the 4th, I will call him again and have a longer discussion because although I don't race exclusively I do like to go fast. I've installed a Martec folding prop even tho a lot of cruisers don't recommend it, and I'm installing a Harken roller furler. I will probably take yours and Dave's advise Don, and get a lower cut 135 since I'm a pretty new sailor and I don't want something I can't handle even if it is faster.
150 or 135 genoa on roller furler
Jim: You won't go wrong with Ullman. He will steer you right. Get his input on the 150 verses the 135 before you make your final decision. If I had an extra hand on board I could have handled the 150. The problem was was the wind piped up it was a handfull for me. As soon as the boat heels more than 10 degrees my wife gets upset. I've know married guys for over 10 years on my dock and I never once saw their wives - I don't want to join them so if my wife likes a even keel that is what she gets. As far as sailing to Mexico - you could stick a broom stick with a bed sheet on a 55 gal drum and get to Mexico as it is all down hill. It is the coming back that is the problem. You are plowing into the waves head on. Any time I did the Newport/Ensenada (3 times) I always was the guy that drove the crew home!!!! Nothing wrong with the Martec prop either and the Harken furler is also top grade. You'll have a nice setup when you finish. The Martec verses a fixed prop will pick up most of the difference between the 150 and the 135. As a cruiser slash racer, the Martec is a must if you want to be competitive.
Jim: You won't go wrong with Ullman. He will steer you right. Get his input on the 150 verses the 135 before you make your final decision. If I had an extra hand on board I could have handled the 150. The problem was was the wind piped up it was a handfull for me. As soon as the boat heels more than 10 degrees my wife gets upset. I've know married guys for over 10 years on my dock and I never once saw their wives - I don't want to join them so if my wife likes a even keel that is what she gets. As far as sailing to Mexico - you could stick a broom stick with a bed sheet on a 55 gal drum and get to Mexico as it is all down hill. It is the coming back that is the problem. You are plowing into the waves head on. Any time I did the Newport/Ensenada (3 times) I always was the guy that drove the crew home!!!! Nothing wrong with the Martec prop either and the Harken furler is also top grade. You'll have a nice setup when you finish. The Martec verses a fixed prop will pick up most of the difference between the 150 and the 135. As a cruiser slash racer, the Martec is a must if you want to be competitive.
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