Hey, all you Hunter owners out there. My husband and I have a 2004 Hunter 33, hull #13. He is investigating making the jib self-tacking. Has anyone done that? [On any Hunter, not just the 33.] Any thoughts, experience, etc, we could learn from? Thanks. Elaine
Self tacking jib
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Doesn't sound right.
I assume you have the small furling main like most of the new Hunters. So much of your power comes from the jib and it would have to be very small to self-tack in front of the mast. The boat would be slow and suffer from lots of weather helm I think. There are many ways to do this technically with enough hardware and money. You can do it with a boom(like my self-tacking staysail) or without.
I assume you have the small furling main like most of the new Hunters. So much of your power comes from the jib and it would have to be very small to self-tack in front of the mast. The boat would be slow and suffer from lots of weather helm I think. There are many ways to do this technically with enough hardware and money. You can do it with a boom(like my self-tacking staysail) or without.
We have a self tender
Elaine: We have a camber spar on our H'31. It makes sailing very simple (especially when in a channel/river). The down side with our arrangement is there is no way to furl the jib, because it has a spar inside a pocket on the jib. The other option is to have a setup that can be worked as a self tender OR remove the self tender and fly a full jib 110-115 percent. One of my harbor mates has this setup and it is very nice. Take a look at the Harken website or catalog. They have this type of a setup and I think it is worth while considering. ED: I would not think that this would effect the performance much. They have a fraction rigged jib, so they are only going to reduce their sail area by less than 15 percent. Don't forget, they normally sail in 20-35kts. of wind anyway.
Elaine: We have a camber spar on our H'31. It makes sailing very simple (especially when in a channel/river). The down side with our arrangement is there is no way to furl the jib, because it has a spar inside a pocket on the jib. The other option is to have a setup that can be worked as a self tender OR remove the self tender and fly a full jib 110-115 percent. One of my harbor mates has this setup and it is very nice. Take a look at the Harken website or catalog. They have this type of a setup and I think it is worth while considering. ED: I would not think that this would effect the performance much. They have a fraction rigged jib, so they are only going to reduce their sail area by less than 15 percent. Don't forget, they normally sail in 20-35kts. of wind anyway.
Has pros and cons
We have a self tending jib (w/boom--previous owner called it a club jib) on an H27. As with everything there are both pros and cons to this setup. When changing tack it works great, no jib sheets to handle! (which is particularly nice when having guests on the boat.) Works great in moderate wind. The downside for us is here on sf bay we can get serious wind growth over the course of the afternoon (to 20 knots not uncommon). The club jib isnt really conducive to putting a storm jib on. So for us when the wind comes up we either reef the main or sail on the jib only, depending on wind and wave conditions. By the way, you can set up a roller furling jib on a self tending boom setup. There is an example of how to set this up in the book "How Boat Things Work." Chris
We have a self tending jib (w/boom--previous owner called it a club jib) on an H27. As with everything there are both pros and cons to this setup. When changing tack it works great, no jib sheets to handle! (which is particularly nice when having guests on the boat.) Works great in moderate wind. The downside for us is here on sf bay we can get serious wind growth over the course of the afternoon (to 20 knots not uncommon). The club jib isnt really conducive to putting a storm jib on. So for us when the wind comes up we either reef the main or sail on the jib only, depending on wind and wave conditions. By the way, you can set up a roller furling jib on a self tending boom setup. There is an example of how to set this up in the book "How Boat Things Work." Chris
Did it on my 23.5
We had our jib cut down so we could rig it for self tacking. It makes boat handling in tight quarters a breeze. Tacking up a tight channel is fun and so is sailing into a slip. The B&R rig relys on a large main so the jib is small anyway. We lost very little speed upwind. Downwind we may have actually gained speed because you can boom out the sail much easier and faster than you can go forward and set up a whisker pole. It makes it easy to sail wing and wing. For a B&R rig hunter its a very smart move. For a traditional rig that depends on a large genoa and a backstay I'd only do it for a staysail rigged cutter or I'd only set it up in stronger winds. For our boat the reefing program is as follows: up to 10 knots - all working sail up 10 to 15 knots - Reef the main 15 to 25 knots - drop the jib and sail on reefed main only Over 25 knots - look for shelter This is average wind speed. Naturally when it is over 15 you'll get gusts to 35 on occassion. When that happens on our little 23.5 we just hold on. I don't really measure the wind speed all the time. We just try to keep the average heeling angle below 20 degrees and we know 10 to 15 degrees is fastest for our boat.
We had our jib cut down so we could rig it for self tacking. It makes boat handling in tight quarters a breeze. Tacking up a tight channel is fun and so is sailing into a slip. The B&R rig relys on a large main so the jib is small anyway. We lost very little speed upwind. Downwind we may have actually gained speed because you can boom out the sail much easier and faster than you can go forward and set up a whisker pole. It makes it easy to sail wing and wing. For a B&R rig hunter its a very smart move. For a traditional rig that depends on a large genoa and a backstay I'd only do it for a staysail rigged cutter or I'd only set it up in stronger winds. For our boat the reefing program is as follows: up to 10 knots - all working sail up 10 to 15 knots - Reef the main 15 to 25 knots - drop the jib and sail on reefed main only Over 25 knots - look for shelter This is average wind speed. Naturally when it is over 15 you'll get gusts to 35 on occassion. When that happens on our little 23.5 we just hold on. I don't really measure the wind speed all the time. We just try to keep the average heeling angle below 20 degrees and we know 10 to 15 degrees is fastest for our boat.
Frank Ladd...
How do you rig your foresail for self tending? What equipment, etc? Interested and would like to try this on a 26. Also, where in NC do you sail ur boat? 26 is in New Bern. (btw, didn't see you in the owner's directory.)
How do you rig your foresail for self tending? What equipment, etc? Interested and would like to try this on a 26. Also, where in NC do you sail ur boat? 26 is in New Bern. (btw, didn't see you in the owner's directory.)
Thanks!!!!!!!
Well, I knew this was the place to ask the question. We have seen how self-tenders are set up on some Island Packets, and really like that [with the curved Hoyt Jib Boom, I think it's called], but we know there are other ways to do it, also. I am printing this off for my husband to read. If you have more thoughts you think we should hear, and if you have pictures of how yours are set up that you wouldn't mind sharing, that would be great. Thanks, guys. We have already learned so much from reading this site because of sailors like you.
Well, I knew this was the place to ask the question. We have seen how self-tenders are set up on some Island Packets, and really like that [with the curved Hoyt Jib Boom, I think it's called], but we know there are other ways to do it, also. I am printing this off for my husband to read. If you have more thoughts you think we should hear, and if you have pictures of how yours are set up that you wouldn't mind sharing, that would be great. Thanks, guys. We have already learned so much from reading this site because of sailors like you.
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