What head sail for FL & Bahamas

[Ken Wescoat]

We have a Catalina 34 and hope to be sailing in the Bahamas and around FL. during the fall and winter.What size head sail on a furler would be advised for the local winds ? Thank you for your sugestions.

 

[Jon Bastien]

What I use...

Hi Ken, I have a Hunter 25 in Key West, and I still use hank-on sails. I carry 2 jibs- A 110 and a 135, and they serve me pretty well for the prevailing winds. If you're going to use a furler, I'd think a 135 would be a nice, best-of-most-worlds sail- Big enough to provide a little more power, but small enough to furl down when the weather gets a little rough. In a perfect world, I'd carry 2 furling jobs- a 150 (which can still be effective when rolled down to about 125 or so), and a 110 (which can be effective rolled down to about 85). This way, I think I'd have the most options for jib size.  Just my $.02... Your mileage may vary. Good luck!--Jon BastienH25 'Adagio'

 

[Mark Ploch]

Headsail choice

A 135% is really a good all round size. Not too small for off wind and light airs yet not to big to roll in for the occasional cold front. I hope you are already there and missed all this snow!

 

[gERRY hULL]

HEADSAIL CHOICES ...FLA/BAHAMAS

If you can afford it, go with a 135 AND a 110. This winter in the Bahamas, there has been one cold front after another with winds almost continuously above 15 kts. and frequently 25 and above. That translates to apparent wind speeds of 20 to 30 kts across the deck. The 135 is fine off the wind but if you want to sail, say from Hopetown to Green Turtle Cay in a norther, you will have to tack tight to windward and the 135 is just too big unless you want to sail on your ear with white knuckles. Lots of boats there last month or so have been doing a lot of very slow windward powering because they don't have the right size headsail. Reefing a r.f. jib reduces the heeling but for close windward work [tight tacking ] they just are too poorly shaped to do it. My last boat was with 4 bags of headsails, all hank -on. I always had the option of the right sail for windward sailing [ if I was willing to do the work to make headsail changes under way.] Now I have just sailed my Cat 42 Acadia [135% Genoa] there for 3 consecutive cold fronts and can tell you that I need a smaller headsail to really sail properly. Lots of talk from the boats in California about rigging an inner forestay [removable for a 110% hank-on staysail.] I saw one here in Ft. L and it was a smart rig. Next winter that's on my list.