Larger Headsails

[Tim Taylor]

i recently damaged the standard headsail of my 18.5 and while it's patched now i'm looking to buy a new (and larger) headsail. i'm considering a 150 since i sail on a lake which more often than not has light winds. my question is will i be able to move and trim the larger headsail w/o winches? as it is now the only winch on the 18.5 is on the mast for raising the sails. i'm strong enough to handle the jib w/o any problems but i'm concerned that the genoa will be a handfull in a stiff breeze. thanks in advance.Tim Taylor"Carried Away"

 

[David Feavearyear]

Larger Headsail

Just came in from racing in 10 -15 knots with a brand new 153% mylar triradial genoa. My crew is on vacation, so I was solo and had no problems bringing it in. Our sail came from Haarsticks in Rochester, NY check them out!

 

[Chris Haraway]

Genoa???

Dave, are you using a genoa track or any other modifications to accommodate your new sail?Tim, I agree with Dave. The sail wouldn't be so big that you would "need" a winch.

 

[David Feavearyear]

Genoa Track

Chris,Yes, we did install about 3 feet of trackon the cabin roof. It helps in two ways, 1) the sheeting angle was a bit to steep for the eyelet/camcleat arraingment that was already on the boat, and the jib sheet would pop out in heavy winds and 2) by angling the track towards the rail, we effectively created a barber-haul, and it works well for downwind/wing on wing sailing. The race results just came in, and I was only 5 minutes (corrected behing the next boat and 16 minutes from the leader of 10 boats.The biggest downside of a large genoa is the lack of a backstay - the forestay really wants to sag! I have tightened the uppers and lowers quite a bit, and I am concerned about the deck strength at the mast step. Years ago my family had a Hunter 30 that was very competitive, but had the same problem. Looks like I'll be installing an Aluminum plate this winter. I did notice that by sheeting in the main (with the reef in) it effectively was a back stay, or at least tightened the forestay. I'm still working on that problem. Oh well, there is always something.