Self Tacking System

[Jackdaw]

Harken collaborated with Jenneau to develop an "assisted sail trim" package providing software to operate electric winches, electric furlers and an automated mainsheet trim device installed inside a boom. It's quite sophisticated.

It does not replace the skipper, but takes all of the manual labor out of trimming the sails. It can be set to trim the mainsheet and genoa sheets when the helmsman changes course, tacks, etc.

The system even provides an automated anti-heeling function - the instruments will ease the sheets when the angle of heel exceeds a preset limit.

The hardware and software are very expensive. It was developed for a couple sailing a big boat shorthanded. If you're already spending the money for electric furlers on the main and genoa, and electric winches, the software system is only another extra $10,000 or $20,000.

It's one finger sail management.

@Jackdaw: it can handle even 130%-ish genoas.

DrJ,

Thanks for sharing that; I remember hearing of the development but had never seen the video. After watching and reading I didn't see anything that spoke to genoas (all the boats in the vids and docs were non-overlappers), nor saw anything that would have allayed my concerns about using that with a larger overlapping genoa. So I called my friend Heather, who is manger of Big-boat tech support at Harken. She agreed that the system should not be used with sail bigger than 110. Here's why. Used with bigger sails; the skipper would have to hold the boat head to wind while the winches crank the clew around. Turn too fast, and you pin the sail against the rig and spreaders. Turn too slow, and you stall in irons.

With a jib you just turn the boat. Go too fast, and the slight backwinding pulls the bow around as the sail trims in ahead of the mast.

This really is an intractable problem for reasonably priced consumer technology, made moot by the fact that overlapping headsails have pretty much disappeared on new boats!

 

[DrJudyB]

@Jackdaw,

I could have sworn one of the videos I watched had a bigger than 110% being handled automatically.... but no matter.

In any event, a cruiser probably would be willing to to reef the headsail to 110% before initiating an assisted tack. Just push a button to operate the electric genoa furler. That would eliminate all the problems you mentioned.

For a cruising couple or single hander, it would be perfect for when they want to kick back and relax. Add a joy stick attached to bow and stern thrusters for single handed docking and you take most of the physical work out of sailing.

If money were no object, why not?


Judy