sail mod

[Skysail1]

Bought my first big sailer a hunter 260 wb this fall, have not sailed her yet.
sent my sails into sail care for a cleaning and the following mods .
boat already has a furler on jib.

new tell tales on all sails
cunningham

would like to know if it is worth puting an additional reef be worth my trouble? I have sailed dinghies usually on lakes where the wind goes from 3 to 30kts will be sailing on the same lakes with this boat to gain experiance to move up to a 45ft model.

thanks in advance for your advice

JJ

 

[Jeff]

I had a 1996 H26. Sent my main sail off to Sail Care and was shocked when it came back. It looked brand new again. I did elect to have the second reef installed while it was there. Used it many many times. It's worth the extra expense.

 

[Charisma]

The original sail for the h26 has the 1st and only, reef pretty deep into the sail, we have sailed this boat for @ 8yrs and find that we use the reef more than other boats of similar size. The h26 is a pretty light boat and likes to be sailed with little or no heal, if you want to get the best speed out of her. So when we ordered our new sail, due to arrive this spring, we had an extra reef installed. So I guess the answer to your question is yes, go ahead and add it now. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Happy sailing, we found this boat perfect for what we use it for. Chris

 

[Joe]

If you have any doubts...... put it in now... whether you use it or not is immaterial.

 

[paphman]

We sail a smaller boat than you do ( catalina 22 ) on lake Ontario. When we bought our boat it had one reef in the main. I too thought about a second reef point and asked many people about this idea. Most said that I would not use it, or use it very little. We went ahead anyway and had a second reef put in. We love it and use it many times a season. As Joe just said, if you have any doubts, put it in. When you need it, is not the time to be asking if you should have done it. Just a thought.

Dale

 

[Don Guillette]

Skysail1: What caught my attention was the addition of the Cunningham (halyard). I prefer the Cunningham to the halyard because it is easier to adjust and for me, I had to adjust the halyard at the mast, with the cunningham I could get a more precise adjustment. The only thing the Cunningham adjusts is DRAFT POSITION, which a lot of mates ignore. As the wind pipes up the draft position moves aft, which tends to power up the sail. One of the effects of using the Cunningham along with the mainsheet, outhaul and boom vang is when you crank on them the draft position moves forward, which is a more forgiving and less powerful position.

Sooo, before putting in the first reef, you should try to depower the mainsail (and jib) and maybe you won't need the 1st or the second reef but llike everything in life, things are fleeting and if moving the draft position forward and flattening the sail doesn't work you have to slap in the 1st reef and maybe the second reef. The time to reef is when you FIRST think about it - you can't wait or it will be too late.

 

[Alan]

A first or even a second reef are simply varying degrees of de-powering the main. Moving from a full powered up sail to a handkerchief requires many steps or in car terms, gear changes. Skipping flattening and angle of attack changes in favor of going directly to a reef is a serious mistake and probably a lot of needless work. The result is many skippers don't use all the tools in the box. Using all the gears instead of just 1st and fourth is a far better strategy.

 

[sinnettc]

Alan,

Not sure I completely agree with your statement. I think it might apply in a case where you go out early and the wind builds throughout the day but I don't think it applies all the time. If you know how your boat performs under given conditions, why not reef before you go? Also, who your crew is can affect how soon you need to reef - or at least it does on my boat.

For instance, if I get to the lake and I know the wind is blowing much more than about 15-17 kts then I'm putting the reef in, especially if my wife or someone who's a bit timid about the boat heeling is along. Could I go through the flatten/reef routine on the water? Sure. But above 15 kts I know that Verboten, with her tall rig, will sail flatter and faster with the reef in because I won't be getting overpowered; plus I won't have to deal with reining in a flogging sail out on the lake.

Same kind of thing holds true with the change from Genoa to 98% Jib. If the wind is 12 knots or more I know the boat performs better with the blade so I don't even pull the genoa out of the cabin. Besides which, I've got a foil which means someone has to go up on the bow, pull the genoa down and then try to get it back in it's long bag, or shove it through the hatch. Too much work outside of racing conditions.

My 2 cents . . .