We had a good day today. Many sailboats on the water with relatively few power boats. I'd say winds were around 15 knots (maybe higher - up to 20) with slightly higher gusts and many lulls, mostly in the wind shadows of windward shores. We used our 110 jib with a full mainsail. We have a masthead rig on our 27' Starwind with shoal draft keel. We had to feather the main occasionally as heeling went up to 25 degrees at times on upwind legs. The wind was up and down a little bit more than it would normally be on a good day so it seemed like we could not sustain maximum boat speed. We were mainly in the 5.5 knot to 6 knot range. On our reaches we could sustain better speed but it felt like we could use a bit more sail area. I never felt like we had any overwhelming weather helm, but I was wondering if we would have performed better with the 150 genoa and a reefed main. I think with the 150, it would have been necessary to put in a reef, but it wasn't necessary with the 110. We hank our headsail, so experimentation with the head sail size wasn't an option. Many sailboats looked like they had their main up with just a small amount of jib unrolled on furling headsails. I chose this sail combo because we didn't feel like doing a lot of hard charging and I thought I might need a reef even with the 110. But I was wondering if there would have been a better sail combo. What do you guys think?
What sails would you fly?
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"listen" to the helm
Let the helm tell you what you need. I think a properly tuned rig will sail very well in those conditions. You say you did. Next time you go out, try 150-main reefed combo and see how it feels. I'm guessing, though, that you had a nice touch of weather helm with the 110-full main, and the 150-reefed main will feel less friendly, especially in the puffs.
Let the helm tell you what you need. I think a properly tuned rig will sail very well in those conditions. You say you did. Next time you go out, try 150-main reefed combo and see how it feels. I'm guessing, though, that you had a nice touch of weather helm with the 110-full main, and the 150-reefed main will feel less friendly, especially in the puffs.
Reefing VS Headsail Change
Just make a rough comparison of how much sail area might be reduced in each case: Just for example, say the foot of the main is 10'long and the first reef point is 3.5 feet up; you will reduce the sail area by a little less than 35 square feet when you reef the main. Now suppose the leach of your 150% Genoa is 35 feet long. Let's guess that the difference between the foot dimension of your 110 and your 150 is also at least 3.5 feet. Your headsail reduction will be roughly 60-62 square feet. Even if the boat is fractionally riggged with shorter headsails, the headsail reduction likely has the greater effect. Had you needed a reef with the 110 up, it would be relatively easy to do' as opposed to changing down from a hank-on 150 to a hank-on 110 on a bouncing foredeck. Seems like you made the right choice for the conditions.
Just make a rough comparison of how much sail area might be reduced in each case: Just for example, say the foot of the main is 10'long and the first reef point is 3.5 feet up; you will reduce the sail area by a little less than 35 square feet when you reef the main. Now suppose the leach of your 150% Genoa is 35 feet long. Let's guess that the difference between the foot dimension of your 110 and your 150 is also at least 3.5 feet. Your headsail reduction will be roughly 60-62 square feet. Even if the boat is fractionally riggged with shorter headsails, the headsail reduction likely has the greater effect. Had you needed a reef with the 110 up, it would be relatively easy to do' as opposed to changing down from a hank-on 150 to a hank-on 110 on a bouncing foredeck. Seems like you made the right choice for the conditions.
The Traveler
Remember that the first method to control weather helm is with the "traveler". I always use that first. If the breeze picks then we go to the appropriate reef. Have fun!
Remember that the first method to control weather helm is with the "traveler". I always use that first. If the breeze picks then we go to the appropriate reef. Have fun!
Shifty, inconsistent wind ...
Sunday and Monday were pretty fine! But as winds were generally from the west, we get a lot of wind shifts and gusts because of the terrain around us. Yesterday, we went with the 150 genny and a full main since it wasn't quite as windy as Sunday. The direction was a little more consistent but the strength was up and down. I find that when it is like this, we can't really set the main. Sue takes the helm and I play the mainsheet. Our traveler is set up with stops so constant adjustments to the traveler is a nuisance. I can keep her from having too much weather helm by anticipating the gusts and finessing the main for optimum speed. When I didn't want to play the mainsheet, or I had to move around for some reason, I had to set the traveler stop almost all the way outboard to avoid any sudden surprises!
Wind shifts got pretty erratic on Sunday. The wind was generally from the SW but at different locations on the lake it swung from almost due North to all the way around to SE!
Sunday and Monday were pretty fine! But as winds were generally from the west, we get a lot of wind shifts and gusts because of the terrain around us. Yesterday, we went with the 150 genny and a full main since it wasn't quite as windy as Sunday. The direction was a little more consistent but the strength was up and down. I find that when it is like this, we can't really set the main. Sue takes the helm and I play the mainsheet. Our traveler is set up with stops so constant adjustments to the traveler is a nuisance. I can keep her from having too much weather helm by anticipating the gusts and finessing the main for optimum speed. When I didn't want to play the mainsheet, or I had to move around for some reason, I had to set the traveler stop almost all the way outboard to avoid any sudden surprises!
Wind shifts got pretty erratic on Sunday. The wind was generally from the SW but at different locations on the lake it swung from almost due North to all the way around to SE!- Status