Inner forestay?

[kenpreston46]

Hello All,
I'm thinking of new sails and that leads to thinking through the
reasons behind various sails and equipment and so here is the gist of
my questions for you:

I now have a ruller furler for the jib/genoa and three sets of jiffy
reefing points on the main. I normally use only the lapper (it must
be about 110% and the main in various combinations. I find that
combination moves the boat well in most conditions and I often have
up to 6 rolls in the jib on a gusty day. I like to keep heeling
under 20 degrees, or better, 15. I'm normally content with 4.5 to
5.5 knots though I've had her above 6.5 off the wind occasionally.

I want to end up with a main that reduces to about 60% of full area,
a 110% jib that is either roller reefable (with padding in the luff
this time) OR to get rid of the roller and have the jib just a little
larger, hanked on, but with a deep reef. I expect these two sails to
be of 7 or 8 ounce cloth. Finally, I want both a trysail and a storm
jib of 8 or 9 ounce cloth. That's where the rub comes in. If I keep
the roller (which I admit to liking, though I've never had it on any
other boat) then I'll need an inner stay to set the storm jib on.
I'm having trouble engineering a satisfactory installation in my
mind. Have any of you contemplated or actually done an inner stay
for this purpose? Have you comments on the overall plan? Obviously
this is a huge investment for me so I'm wanting to get it right!
Thanks for your help. Ken Preston

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi Ken

Few ways out of the problem.

With the furling jenny you can get your No1,2 and 3 made to have bolt ropes
thus using tthem as smaller and smaller furling sails. Works well in the UK.
Another methodf I have tried is to have another forestay that is about 12
inches down from the top of the mast and has a pelican hook at the deck end.
This is attached to the cap shoroud when not in use but if youw ant to attach
storm jib etc then the inner forestay is connected to a fitted U-Bolts
which ha
sbeen securely attached oon top of the bulkhead where the anchor locker
compartment is. I can get photos if you are not in a hurry as I am still laid
up with knee operation recovery.

Slab reefing in the mainsail is best I can think of (I think you call it jiffy
reefing). I have three slabs on my main and the third one leaves just a
handkerchief mainsail up!

Kid regards

Steve B

At 13:41 25/09/03 +0000, you wrote:

 

[mocap1]

Defender sells an inner forestay hardware kit with a Pelican hook so it can be taken out of the way when not being used. However, I believe it is very expensive, and you can improvise your own as described by Steve.

The Sail Warehouse sells what they call the Gale Sail. It is a storm jib that hoists over a furled headsail. $549 for a sail that I believe would fit the Vega.

I do not have an anemometer, and am therefore not constrained from lying about the wind velocities I have endured. But I have on occasion found it necessary to sail with a deeply reefed main and an almost completely furled headsail. Being old and decrepit, I am not about to get up on the fordeck of a Vega and change headsails. An almost furled headsail may be aerodynamically inefficient, but it works, so who cares.

Mort

 

[pelagicasd]

Ken. I think you've goten some good advice from both Mort and Steve. Rule of
thumb if I recall is right is storm sails are 1/3 of working sail area.
About 50 sq. ft. each for a Vega. Our sailmaker talked us out of a trysail
and said smaller boats could get by with just a third reef point. If you do
go for one you'll need a seperate track to hoist it on also. We built a
detachable baby stay for Lyric while Judy was working for West Marine. Even
with her discount it wasn't cheap. Not only do you have to have a means to
fasten it to a padeye on the foredeck but you need to be sure that you won't
pull up the foredeck! You also have to have a way to tension it and were you
thinking of doing running backs also? The Gale Sail sound like a good plan.
High winds have a way of unfurling roller furled jibs.
Lyric has just been through her third hurricane while on the hard in La Paz.
2nd one this year. Fortunatley, no reported damage. Marina La Paz has been
60% destroyed and it's a big marina. A number of smaller boats were sunk and
most of the boats were damaged. For more on the carnage go to latitude38 web
sit and on their home page click on breaking news. I've got to get my boat
home!
La Paz usually gets a hurricane every 20 years, it has had 3 in the past two
years! It's got to be global warming. I'll be in the market for a trailer
later this year. If anyone knows of one reasonably priced let me know. Walt

 

[kenpreston46]

I have a roller furling jib on the boat and it has done everything
I've wanted so far, but I find myself wishing I had an inner forestay
and the means to set a small jib on hanks. . .the theory being I
might want/need a very small jib independent of the roller in harsh
conditions. . .to go with my 3rd reef in the main. So. . .anybody
have an inner forestay? Where did you tack it down? I am presently
considering putting a simple flat chainplate on the forward face of
the forepeak cabin. I imagine glassing a backing plate into the
inside and through bolting it. With that anchorage point on deck,
I'm then thinking the peak might go well at the same height as the
spreaders, where the mast is obviously very well stayed by the lower
shrouds. Most of the time the stay would be detached and pulled back
against the mast for convenience tacking the regular roller jib. I do
have a medium weight hanked jib that would probably fit in that space
without much recutting and would be more than stout enough for a gale
of wind. The local dockside commentators have suggested I should opt
for a peak clear up at the mast head, which would lead to the
possibility of setting a pair of hanked jibs for self steering
downwind if I ever had the chance. H'mm.

All rational opinions are welcome. Actual experience even more so.
Thanks, Ken Preston

 

[pfmarrack]

Ken,
I have thought the same thing and used for the first time a small jib
from another boat. The jib has a shroud wire in its luff with a
thimble at each end. I attach the tack to a clip that is on the end
of a ~3' wire attached to the base of the bow fitting (where the
furler attaches). I used the old jib halyard that is not used by the
furled jib to raise the small jib and transfer the jib sheets from
the main jib. Its not an ideal system as it would be nice to have an
inner forestay to avoid the jib from having a free luff, (better
tension) and have the center of force further back. The boat seemed
well balanced with the small jib and one reef. I think your idea of a
backing plate and peak at the spreaders is a good one, although I
would go just above the spreaders and have good space between the
sail and the deck. I hope this helps and let me know how it goes.

Paul
V2926