Storm Jib

DianaOfBurlington · Oct 12, 2010

On storm jibs

The Gale Sail is expensive. A reliable local sailmaker can make a proper storm jib more cheaply than that.

The principle is just as you might suspect, to save the working jib or genoa from abuse. If you have been successful in just reefing the roller-furling genny I will submit that you have NOT been in true storm-jib weather; for such weather would surely have destroyed the genny. Furlers are really not meant to be reefers, no matter what anyone says. The friction or pressure of the rolled-up sail is not sufficient to secure the luff of the reduced sail area like hanks on a stay can do. Under extreme conditions the sail will stretch horribly right there, bulge out till it's out of control, and eventually fail.

And, of course, pointing performance is severely hampered by what I call that 'tampon bulge' of the partially-rolled-up sail. Again-- another reason why it's not really meant to do that.

In true storm conditions you should remove the genny from the furler foil completely; and if your furler does not allow you to do this I submit you have not got an adequate yachting-grade furler. I have seen boats with the genny left on over the winter and in a winter gale the sail caught air and tried to 'sail' the boat off the hardstands. (I was the guy from the yard who went up in 60 MPH gusts and hacked away one guy's sail with a steak knife; for by then the whole thing was shredding anyway and the boat was threatening to blow over onto other people's boats.) And these were gennys that were 'responsibly' furled and stopped.

If you remove the genny from the furler (hopefully in advance of the reallly bad conditions) you have an ideal opportunity to have a storm jib with luff tape that will slide up into the foil. Opinions differ as to whether the small sail should be pulled up higher or lower. Some say higher, because in deep troughs of high seas it would be ineffective too low. I prefer lower, because lowering center or effort in heavy air is never a bad thing. (This is the reason recutting a mainsail to allow a higher boom, just to accommodate a bimini top, is never good. In such cases the trysail must be set pretty low, past the boom, and then you can't change tacks with it.)

Sheeting depends on your point of wind; you really do want to at least attempt to actually sail in these conditions. Tack the sail to the rail or a point farther inboard. Hopefully you won't have to change tacks very much; but you should be able to. When heaving-to you will backsheet it, tacking it to the weather rail in order to stall the boat's headway and to make it actually drift downwind away from the oncoming weather and waves; but you will need the main (triple-reefed, or a trysail in its place to save the regular main) to do this. I have not heard of anyone successfully heaving-to under jib alone, but given some types of boats and rigs I am sure it's possible.

In any case the furler genny should NOT be the only headsail you have. And you definitely want to be able to take it off the furler foil, if only to save it, if not to save the boat (and you) as well.

There was a site once in which they listed common boats (such as all Hunters) and cited sail sizes and prices and especially specified cloth weights. I cannot find it now as I am not on my own computer. But it is worth looking up. Also, do not overlook your friendly neighborhood sailmaker, who will be a wealth of information. I was told by Skip Moorhouse that I was nuts to consider a trysail track on my H25-- he said it was way overkill-- but I am fitting it because I want to be able to practice heaving-to and sailing in uglier conditions-- and I suggest that everyone practice when conditions are not at their worst, the better to be prepared when they inevitably go bad. Living in denial, such as believing it will never happen (or, like my mother, hoping that it won't while admitting it yet might) is not a sensible strategy.

Alan · Oct 15, 2010

Right on DofB!!! You have it exactly right. So many skippers think they can furl a large genoa into a handkerchief and still have an effective headsail for big wind. These skippers have never seen gale force winds and don't realize just how poor a furled headsail is shaped. Also, some furling manufacturers make it impossible to remove the headsail from the furler without removing it. Having the right sail for the conditions is a serious safety issue. A well made #3 or #4 storm jib are irreplaceable when the $hit hits the fan.
The other half of this issue is being able to do sail changes on the fly. Headsail peels should be as routine as MOB drills or reefing drills.

DianaOfBurlington · Oct 18, 2010

Nodak, thanks for your vote of confidence. As I said and will reiterate I think the Gale Sail is expensive. It sets and strikes with a lot of friction on your other sail, and in conditions in which even a little abrasion is a bad thing. And it is a product, easy to see, buy, and own; but as with so many things in sailing the better answer may be in the adopting of a process rather than in the possessing of a product.

You raise the question of, 'is it really necessary to take off the genoa.' My answer-- absolutely.

Personally I think in some cases roller-furling (they're not called 'roller-reefing') jibs are a crutch. Think about it. Is it there to contain the most-used headsail in your wardrobe for the next pleasant day you go out again; or is it there for you to forever avoid the 'hassle' of taking it down and hanking it on and off? If it's there to keep you from doing something that's otherwise necessary, it's a crutch and you're living in denial. This is never good. (I feel the same way, only more strongly, about in-mast mainsail furling.)

I asked my FLS (friendly local sailmaker) Skip Moorhouse, an old friend and admirer of my dad and original owner of Hunter 25 hull #1, about having my current hank-on jib converted to #5 luff tape so I could use a Schaefer Tuff-Luff foil. The Tuff-Luff is like a furler foil but without a furler drum. It has 2 grooves and its purpose is to be able to hoist one jib while the other is still up and drawing so to avoid being 'bald-headed' during a race. I have sailed often without one and recognize its value. Skip said, forget it, 'whatever was the matter with hank-on anyway?' And I see his point; he's encouraging me to stick to round-the-buoys racing and mild cruising. But I intend to singlehand this boat and would like to be able to hoist one before setting the other, just to save time, as the process of changing headsails is much slower when you are the only foredeck/halyard person and you've got to bag the one before pulling the other one out of the hatch and by this time the boat has wrenched herself round into the wind and all hell is breaking loose with the breakers over the deck and... you get the idea. So I am sort of committed to the Tuff Luff.

The principle behind taking the genny off the furler is the same. You are stuck with the biggest and lightest sail in your wardrobe on that thing, utterly useless by the time you must put in a main reef. Is anyone going to say with any credibility, 'well in conditions like that I won't be out; I'll be at the dock with a cocktail.' etc.? You'll be surprised how often that is pointless when the squall comes up on you by surprise.

I once saw three guys on some 33-footer trying to make the channel in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel under furling genny alone. They had got scared in the gusty conditions and furled the main; but now they could not point because they had no tendency to weather helm. As I watched they blew more and more down south in the westerly and finally threw a tack that put them on a course back to sea, and if they threw the next tack any earlier than like OCEAN CITY, they would be on no better of an angle 18 hours later. I was to the point of yelling, 'Change the jib!' and 'Pull the main up!' when the kids came and got me.

Certain phobia have no place in sailing-- especially when the recourse is to learn the boat a little more. Don't get me wrong-- I won't pretend I am immune to either fear or stupidity myself. But that's no reason to justify either.

Learn about the furler, find out how to pull down that sail, and put up another one, and use that otherwise handy grooved foil for much more than most people do. And remember Jerry's boat in our yard, ready to blow off its stands in 60-MPH winter gusts (it scared the crud out of me to see it. My boat was just downwind of his). Taking that sail down is sometimes (often) your only truly safe and sane course.

Alan says changing sails should be like MOB drills, frequently practiced. In a conversation at my club we discussed this and I said (with my big mouth) that with your usual crew you should be able to slab-reef the main to the first reef point in 60 seconds, or practice till you can. The other club big-mouth said, 'Or 45 seconds.' I had to eat my words then-- and gladly, for he is right.

DianaOfBurlington · Oct 24, 2010

More re: Storm Jib

Nodak, once you have got the big genny down your options are significantly wider. You could, in theory, use a Gale Sale on the naked furler foil; but that is overkill since you just paid for the sleeve sail and now you don't need it. In my opinion nothing beats a headsail foil, which is what your furler is when you take the sail off it. It beats hanks because it does not point-load the stay. It also spares the wire stay from abrasion which hanks are good at providing. Without the furling sail on it, the foil is lighter and enables you to properly tension the headstay for when you do have a sail on it (most people's headstays sag deplorably when under a furler foil and sail and drum. Some people even recut the sail to allow for it. And then mast rake as designed and deliberately imposed is gone out the window).

If you are comfortable pulling down the big genny off the furler, then why not set another jib only smaller? Or why not have three or four headsails, any one of which can be fitted with Sunbrella luff tape to be rolled-up on the furler? I just met an interesting guy from California and got to share some ideas about your issue from someone on the West Coast. We both agreed the common 150% genny on the typical furler is probably overkill. I am seeking a nice 135 for next spring. That's plenty. You can buy something used, heavy and too small for 150 bucks in some places, getting it recut or not caring because the reduction in area is all you need. No-one is going to judge you on the ugliness of your storm jib in conditions that call for it. And if it shreds to pieces second time out, get another one just like it. It's only an insurance policy. This goes for a trysail as well. The furling genny and the primary main are your most expensive sails on the boat-- why expose them to the potential for damage when you don't have to?

My new friend suggested that when you have to pull down any big headsail, you could consider heaving-to-- just coming about without tacking the jib and then, while it's lying 'wrong' up against the inside of the lifelines and shrouds, take it down there. This way the boat stalls, the jib isn't flogging itself to death, foredeck conditions are controlled, and you can take your time. I was like, 'Perfect.' --for I had never thought of that before either. This may be a good thing to practice and to try when you need to.

I understand your defense of these things being 'crutches' and that's all right for you. In your case with your sailing it's really not a crutch, it's the way you sail; and that's fine. When you asked about the storm jib I told you what I know of its real purpose. I do seem to have earned my reputation on this site for being 'Mr Worst-Case-Scenario' --maybe that's my niche! --but my credo is 'If you plan for the best, it won't happen. If you plan for the worst, it won't happen.' Better to be safe than sorry-- which is why I seem to spell out doom-and-gloom like I do. I just don't like to see people mis- or uninformed. I would advise anyone to know what these issues really consist of and face life (and sailing) in wisdom, not fear and denial. That's all I'm saying

That said I shall spare you the litany of historic screw-ups I have made myself!

Alan · Oct 28, 2010

If your only headsail is a 110 then you could have a purpose built true storm jib made to replace the 110 as the wind speeds increase beyond 25 knots. It will probably spend most of its life in the bag because the 110 can handle breezes up to 25 kts without any problem.

Storm Jib

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