Hello Hans, In our voyage we have not really sailed Voila that much.
But we have learned that we have made the right decisions on sails. I
will talk about our findings.
I installed a Profurl NCI 32 furling gear. I installed it as low as
it could go. It works great but it is a bit stiff to unroll. I built
the roller furling genoa the same dimensions (more or less )as the
standard genoa on the sail plan. This is a bit bigger than a 135%. It
is made of the new "cloth" from Contender. It is MAXX cloth
www.contendersailcloth.com
It truly is a beautiful sail. A bit on the heavy side though. It does
not stretch. I also roller reefs beautifully with almost no wrinkles.
The cloth allows a sail designer to build a fuller sail for light
winds and not to have to anticipate stretch in heaier winds.
I also built a jib #2 which we have not hoisted. I plan to use this
in high winds with ability to reef it smaller, say to a storm jib. It
is made of standard cloth 6.5 oz. The top three feet of the sail has
an additional luff line to go in the other groove of the furler. This
is stop the sail getting ripped out of the furler. The head swivel
must be at the top of the mast or the halyard will wrap around the
furler. This leaves the head of the sail unsupported except for the
luff line.
Th main is also made with MAXX cloth. Also a beautifull sail. It is
quite flat. I would make it bit fuller next time. It has 3 rows of
reef points. It has 3 full battens and one short one. I have arranged
the position of the slides so that I do not have to remove them when
I reef. It takes me about 30 seconds to put in a reef. There are
external rings at the tacks of the reefs. The reefing hooks are a bit
dinky but the system does work. The roach on the sail is moderate.
I also have a asymetical spinnaker. We built it from roll ends of
Airx cloth. I no longer use this cloth as it is priced out of the
market. It makes for a nice sail though. As we were doing the final
put up on the floor a customer remarked that it was the same colour
and pattern as the Bahamian flag! We love this sail. Going straight
downwind we put in 2 reefs in the main. This helps keep the sail
full. I do not like raising the spi by itself as the main blankets
the spi to aid handling when lowering. I have yet to arrange the spi
halyard to the cockpit.
I do not think a trisail is neessary as the Vega will sail under just
storm jib. I like the spi. We were with a Cabo Rico 38 when we did
the Georgia run. We were doing almost 1 1/2 knots faster in 20 knots
wind than they were. If they had not started thir motor we would have
been at least 10 miles ahead of them (over 120 miles) The boat's
motion was smooth as we powered through the waves. I like the 3 full
battens. I am considering buying a new boom. There are a lot of lines
to contend with. The more modern booms have the lines internal. I
will put a picture of the main with the reef heights on our blog.
To summarize I would recommend
A main with 2 deep reefs (or three) of the best cloth you can afford.
A genoa of 135% of the best cloth (whether you an afford it or not)
A smaller jib that could be rolled to a storm jib.
Also an asymetrical spi would be nice.
The MAXX cloth is fantastic but I pay for the cloth for what I sell
the standard sails for.
All my sails are for sale. Heh, I am in the business. I have not
fixed any prices. I can figure out prices for the jib and spi but I
have not made the formula for the MAXX sail.
Alan & Felicity
Voila V1639
