Reefed main sail shape

[Michael Stephens]

I sailed this weekend with my main sail reefed and had trouble getting any real pull out of the sail, about 3 knots boat speed with 15 knots wind. I unfurled the head sail for more power but felt the main should have given me more power than it did. I've been thinking about it since and wonder if I should have loosened the vang to give the sail better shape. I think when I pull the clew down I'm really flattening the sail and thus need to ease the vang to regain good sail shape. Am I off base here?

 

[RREgge]

Questions

1. What was your point of sail2. Assume you had one reef in the main, what about the jib (none, partially furled, full)RREggeS/V Allie Kat

 

[Michael Stephens]

Sailing close hauled without

my head sail at first. Certainly flattened the boat but greatly reduced the power. In retrospect, I think the sail shape was very flat due to the pull at the clew and the vang tension.

 

[RREgge]

Need a headsail to be closehauled

As other will tell you (better than I can) you need to have a headsail when heading to windward.A main alone won't get you where you want to go.

 

[Alan]

I am a perpetual sailing novice however I...

have a little knowledge (dangerous)! I've been told that the single reef on the 26/260 is actually a deep second reef. When sailing towards the wind it is desireable to keep the sail relatively flat. However you can increase the power of the sail by increasing the draft to a point. With the main reefed, and headsail furled about 30% I can sail comfortably 45* towards the wind but slowly. The boat will definately point higher with the headsail even partly up. The trade off for a large cabin, cockpit and water ballast is a boat with high windage that is somewhat tender. The tenderness means early reefing reducing sail area. The high windage then competes with the sails for pushing the boat. I have found that if we stay off the wind somewhat a much more comfortable ride is had. The destination is reached a little slower but the speed of the boat is greater and the heeling much less. alan

 

[Ray Bowles]

A professional begining sailer weighs in.

We sail a 95 Hunter 26 and spent most of last year sailing in a narrow river backwater lake. Our problems were in winds of 15 to 25 mph. The fetch was 7 to 10 miles. We have the standard Hunter/Doyle mainsail with the first reef installed about 7 feet up which most sailers would consider the second reef point. We added an additional reef point 4 feet above this in the 3d reef point.Most of last years lessons were leaning to balance the roller jib with the reefed main.NOW THIS YEAR.....First day out, big winds over 15 mph. As this was our "try to remember everything from last year" day we decided to sail under main alone, with the first reef nicely tucked in. Great, reaching was ok, running wasn't going to happen, but, there was another sailboat about 1 mile upwind that was saying "LET'S RACE". He used flags, light signals, flares and other codes. Just having canvas up meant this was "A RACE". Our discovery was that loosening the main sheet up slightly to allow more belly in the sail and holding it slightly off a midship position made "Speedy" flat start to haul the mail! We do not have a traveler and just use the standard Hunter rigging. We were able to hold 3.05 knts. in a fairly close hauled position.Like I say, we are professional new students to the art of sailing but this was a term parer I WOULD SUBMIT.Ray&MariaS/V Speedy