Altering H26 headsail

[Don Barber]

We just bought a 1997 H26. It came with a 140% genoa on a CDI furler. We took it out for the first time today and the genoa is way too big for the boat. There arent even any lead blocks for the sheets to go through with a sail of that size! We are confused as to what the previos owner was thinking...  With the 140% fully deployed the boat carries way too much weather helm.. Almost unbearable. Seems totally unsafe to me. So, we furled the genoa about 30% and things seemed to ballance a lot better.  I am convinced that we need to ditch this genoa and see if we can get the original factory jib altered so it can be used on the furler.  Has anyone else altered their factory headsail for use on a furler? If so, does it work well? I know that some sails aren't as effective if they werent designed to be furled. How much did it cost to alter the sail? Any recomendations of good sail shops? P.S.- dont ever install a 140% on a H-26! thanks! kevin

 

[Ron Fraboni]

Easy To Do

I, like many other H26 owneres have converted the OEM jib to work on a furler system. I know of no one who ever recommended that a 140% genoa be used on a H26. The boat is not set up to handle it, as you found out. Extra power can be gained in light winds with the use of a asymetrical spinnaker, which is easy to use and takes no extra spinnaker gear. The conversion can be done by any decent sailmaker by recutting, adding luff tape and UV protection. Check the archives on the web site since the issue of headsails, furlers, etc. has been discussed at length - even recently.