Works Well
Where I sail, inland Northern CA in the SF Bay/San Joaquin Delta, most of the non-racers in our sailing club (300 members) have some form of self-tending jib, including several C-36s. I had a self-tending club jib (club = boom) on my C-27 and now have a Soling rig on my C-30. I much prefer the Soling rig which works well with a roller furler. The Soling rig is patterned after the self-tending jib found on the Soling class one-design race boat and uses a curved track in front of the mast. The track is curved and pitched up at an angle to follow the arc traced by the clew of the jib so it permits trimming for excellent sail shape. When trimmed tight, the clew is about 6"- 8" from the track. The size of the jib is about 90%. The clew has a flat metal fitting, much like a mainsail headboard with several holes to choose from to attach the sheet in order to optimize the leech/foot tension ratio for varying wind strengths. The jib is then sheeted to a car on the track to a multi-purchase jib sheet which is then lead back to the cockpit winch. I'm right handed so I lead it to the starboard side so I can trim from the helm. I very seldom need to use the winch and can usually trim it by hand from the helm position. I haven't had any problems with the balance and trim and don't have to reef the main except in high winds when you'd reef anyway. I believe the C-36 would behave much the same as the C-30. There is a good overview article on self-tending jibs in the May 15, 2000 edition of Practical Sailor and, although they don't use the name Soling, they describe the type. I know that both North and Pineapple Sails in SF have a lot of experience with self tending jibs due to their proximity to the Delta. It's helpful to work with a sailmaker familiar with self-tenders so that you can maximize sail area and optimize your ability to trim the sail. I don't think you give up all that much in performance (except in very light winds) given the ease and speed of tacking and the fact that you don't have to re-trim on every tack. It is somewhat of a compromise since the C-30 and C-36 are designed to be headsail driven. You also don't need as much or as experienced a crew. I pass a lot of boats with poorly trimmed and inefficient genoas on SF Bay even though I have less sail area and am usually sailing short-handed. I'm in the Planet Catalina directory if you'd like to e-mail me for more specific information.
