Racing sails are expensive. You have to build quite an inventory. I have a 36' Beneteau that I would like to race someday. What are the basic requirements to start with. I have a dacron mainsail, a new 153 genoa (roller furling) and a new asymetric spinnaker which sees limited use. Which manufacturers offer the best quality and value for price. Thanks
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I think it depends on how serious you are...
about racing. If you are talking about weeknights local racing , low key, maybe just jib and main, you can probably use what you have and add a smaller jib to your inventory as you will not want to roll in your big genoa. I would see who the locals are using the most and ask them. You will want to have one of the sales people (maybe from a couple of companies) sail with you on your boat and give you some advice on the questions I just asked. I have found them very helpful. I think it is good to use a local company because any sail you have made might need some tweeking when new or when older, and you will want to have the original maker do the work. Also, they will need to actually measure the boat in order to give you the best sails. North sails, and UK are popular and well represented here in Michigan. Prices seem competetive by both. Hope that helps. John
about racing. If you are talking about weeknights local racing , low key, maybe just jib and main, you can probably use what you have and add a smaller jib to your inventory as you will not want to roll in your big genoa. I would see who the locals are using the most and ask them. You will want to have one of the sales people (maybe from a couple of companies) sail with you on your boat and give you some advice on the questions I just asked. I have found them very helpful. I think it is good to use a local company because any sail you have made might need some tweeking when new or when older, and you will want to have the original maker do the work. Also, they will need to actually measure the boat in order to give you the best sails. North sails, and UK are popular and well represented here in Michigan. Prices seem competetive by both. Hope that helps. John
You are going to have to figure out your comittment first. A good sail inventory requires a finacial commitment. Also an A chute is just not enough to race with the spinnaker boys. At least one symetrical chute is a must have. On many downwind legs an akite will work fine, but for windward/leeward work you're going to need a symetrical kite or two. You will also find that your cruising dacron main and roller furling genoa have no chance against lighter stronger kevlar mylar sails. Names are not important, design and technique are.
1st off get out on the course now
2nd to Alan and Kosmo, but start racing now. But keep in mind you might not be as competitive as you would like, and don't get discourged. Start in the (JAM) Jib and Main Fleet you will not be the only one that does not have the racing sail's. You will get a credit for the RF and non folding prop and might finish in the back part of the fleet. But the important thing is to get a crew and get on the course. Getting the boat up to speed will all come in time. What you gain from a season is priceless even when you finish in the back of the fleet. As far as sail's go every sailmaker will have the fastest product and they all are good. A good set of racing sail's for a 36 will set you back some $$. But if you can swing it buy the head sail 1st, it will help your pointing. Start a plan like this winter when it's cold your at the boat yard with a sander working on the bottom. Talk to all the sail maker's in your area and decide who is selling fast sail's. Buy the head sail and now is the best time discounts are about 15% or better depending how hungry they are. Line up crew now at least 4 take them out for dinner and talk about your goals. Like to finish in the top half of the fleet for the whole season. Getting GOOD crew will be the key. Crew will make or break your season. When I race if I have racing sailors on the boat we do well. If we race and my wife and son are crew all I am doing is donating my money. Cliff
2nd to Alan and Kosmo, but start racing now. But keep in mind you might not be as competitive as you would like, and don't get discourged. Start in the (JAM) Jib and Main Fleet you will not be the only one that does not have the racing sail's. You will get a credit for the RF and non folding prop and might finish in the back part of the fleet. But the important thing is to get a crew and get on the course. Getting the boat up to speed will all come in time. What you gain from a season is priceless even when you finish in the back of the fleet. As far as sail's go every sailmaker will have the fastest product and they all are good. A good set of racing sail's for a 36 will set you back some $$. But if you can swing it buy the head sail 1st, it will help your pointing. Start a plan like this winter when it's cold your at the boat yard with a sander working on the bottom. Talk to all the sail maker's in your area and decide who is selling fast sail's. Buy the head sail and now is the best time discounts are about 15% or better depending how hungry they are. Line up crew now at least 4 take them out for dinner and talk about your goals. Like to finish in the top half of the fleet for the whole season. Getting GOOD crew will be the key. Crew will make or break your season. When I race if I have racing sailors on the boat we do well. If we race and my wife and son are crew all I am doing is donating my money. Cliff
Racing sail inventory
It all depends how serious you are, but you can probably get away with four or five decent sails for amateur/family club racing. The one thing I would regard as ESSENTIAL is the ability to change headsails-- including getting the one primary roller-furling sail OFF the furling foil. I recently discovered the Schaefer 'Tuff Luff' headsail foil and am itching to install one on Diana. It is a double-channel foil for the headstay, rigid and needing no halyard, and will enable TWO headsails to be hoisted and flown at the same time-- which is absolutely critical for racing. You will need a standard 100/110 jib of relative heavy weight for nasty weather and hard use. You will need a decent 150/170 drifter of light weight and one in-between, like a 135 of medium weight. Odds are the 135 will be the most-used sail in the course. You will fly it earlier than you have to and longer than you should-- in fact sometimes you rather have to, because being such an in-between sail a 135 starts to make sail changes look too costly. You will need a decent racing spinnaker-- I prefer the old-fashioned radial-head types because I have a 1970s boat; but your club may allow poleless cruising asymmetricals too. Sometimes ratings, boat types, and sailing experience conspire to make a cheesy little cruising spinnaker more competitive than the so-called 'real thing'. (If you are one of these people who benefit from this, I hate you. Grrr.) And of course there is the main, definitely the most abused sail on the boat. If you race a lot, get it inspected and repaired after every season. Remember-- the neighbourhood sailmaker is your friend. The farther offshore you race, and the longer the races, the more redundancy you need, as in two mains, storm-only jibs, secondary 110s, multiple spinnakers, etc. For a longer leg you will need precisely the right sail since the loss in control or speed from using the wrong one will become too significant over time. I recall reading about American Flyer racing the Whitbread and the crew doing 24-hour sewing watches just to keep up a safe inventory of repaired 'storm spinnakers' after blowouts-- a concept which, even if I could comprehend it, is not something I ever want to explore too intimately. JC 2
It all depends how serious you are, but you can probably get away with four or five decent sails for amateur/family club racing. The one thing I would regard as ESSENTIAL is the ability to change headsails-- including getting the one primary roller-furling sail OFF the furling foil. I recently discovered the Schaefer 'Tuff Luff' headsail foil and am itching to install one on Diana. It is a double-channel foil for the headstay, rigid and needing no halyard, and will enable TWO headsails to be hoisted and flown at the same time-- which is absolutely critical for racing. You will need a standard 100/110 jib of relative heavy weight for nasty weather and hard use. You will need a decent 150/170 drifter of light weight and one in-between, like a 135 of medium weight. Odds are the 135 will be the most-used sail in the course. You will fly it earlier than you have to and longer than you should-- in fact sometimes you rather have to, because being such an in-between sail a 135 starts to make sail changes look too costly. You will need a decent racing spinnaker-- I prefer the old-fashioned radial-head types because I have a 1970s boat; but your club may allow poleless cruising asymmetricals too. Sometimes ratings, boat types, and sailing experience conspire to make a cheesy little cruising spinnaker more competitive than the so-called 'real thing'. (If you are one of these people who benefit from this, I hate you. Grrr.) And of course there is the main, definitely the most abused sail on the boat. If you race a lot, get it inspected and repaired after every season. Remember-- the neighbourhood sailmaker is your friend. The farther offshore you race, and the longer the races, the more redundancy you need, as in two mains, storm-only jibs, secondary 110s, multiple spinnakers, etc. For a longer leg you will need precisely the right sail since the loss in control or speed from using the wrong one will become too significant over time. I recall reading about American Flyer racing the Whitbread and the crew doing 24-hour sewing watches just to keep up a safe inventory of repaired 'storm spinnakers' after blowouts-- a concept which, even if I could comprehend it, is not something I ever want to explore too intimately. JC 2
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