Small Jibs
Paphman: We have a storm jib for our C-22. We don't use it too often on the Chesapeake, but when we do use it it is very good to have. It enables us to sail closer to the wind without the boat heeling too much, and the tiller pressure remains light, and the boat can be controlled very well. It works well with a reefed main, and restores the boats ability to point into the wind. This makes sense to me, if you think about it from an airflow point of view. The air can't flow very well around the mast, because C-22s don't have rotating masts. Also, with some of the sail area coming from the jib, and some from the main, the boat will sail balanced as it was designed to. The issue about having light tiller pressure is important, because in heavy winds I get concerned about breaking the tiller. The question that you asked about which smaller jib to buy first is a tough one. If you look at as an insurance question, that is, what would you do if you HAD to sail in really windy conditions, you would want to pick the smaller jib that you mentioned, a 50%. If you want to balance the boat and still keep moving fast, then the 75% may be a better choice. I can't answer the question, because I don't know anything about sailing on Lake Ontario. What I do know is that our storm jib has 37 square feet, and it probably should be bigger. I attached a link to one of my previous responses on this issue. You have gotten some good and varied answers to your question. I don't know anything about roller furling, which is one of the things that Bayard mentioned. But, I know that my wife said that in the future we will have roller furling on our next boat. For now, my wife and son change the jibs on our boat. The smaller jibs don't take up too much volume to store, plus they can be folded in their bags since they are't used too often, and this allows them to take up even less room.I hope this helps. Aldo