Headsails

heartofgold · Post by **heartofgold** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:08 am

I have a question about sails. I know this is neither a sailmakers? nor a true sailing forum, but I want to pick the brains of all you more experienced sailors here to get your opinions. Let me provide you all with a little background before I start spouting off questions.

The Heart of Gold has 3 headsails. The first two are presumed to be original to the boat and are a high cut working jib in very good condition (for a 30 year old sail) and about a 110 genoa which is in such poor condition that I keep it only as an emergency backup. The third sail is a very large genoa (about a 150-170) in reasonable condition. The Ensenada 20 is a fractional rig, and my mainsail is new (2004).

Winds in this area (like much of the lower East Coast) are light. During the summer, 5-10 knots is normal and 15 is a blustery day indeed. As a result, I really like to use the big genny, but even in 5-10 knot winds, the boat experiences substantial weather helm. For the most part, I attribute this to the unusually large area of this headsail.

I was out yesterday with the family in what I was expecting to be 5-7 knots and variable, but it ended up being 8-12 knots and steady. Needless to say the boat was overpowered with the big genny, and screamed along like a bucking bronco. Though I do not mind this too much, my family is still new to sailing, and I would prefer to have a little more ?control? while out and teaching them the basics. As a result, the commodore suggested and approved the purchase of a new headsail.

I figure I should do it right if I am going to do it. My questions are as follows:
1) Should I be considering a genoa more along the lines of the original, say a 110-130?

2) Should I consider roller furling? My main concern with roller furling is the poor sail shape with a ?reefed? headsail. Should this concern (real or misconceived) have any bearing on the actual size genoa I consider purchasing. And if roller furling, what brands should I consider (cost is a big issue for me)?

3) When determining the size of a genoa (110%, 150%, etc), is the percentage a measurement of area or of the length of the foot (above 100%)?

4) Am I missing any relevant information I should be considering regarding this issue?

I am very interested in learning as much as I can about this, so any information/experience which you can relate is very much appreciated (as always).

Post by **Tim** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:41 pm

I had a whole long response all written, and then I hit something dumb and lost the whole thing. Grrrr...

Anyway, the gist of it was: go with a 130-135% genoa on a roller furler. For your boat, I recommend the CDI furler (www.sailcdi.com), which is inexpensive, guaranteed against breakage from ANY cause (including driving over the foil), works as a reefing unit as well as a furler, and is maintenance free.

And, simply put: the stuff about sail shape and furler horror stories is way overblown, and much of it should be relegated to urban legend status. New furlers are awesome. For all practical purposes, you can still get decent sail shape with up to 30% of your sail furled. After that, you definitely begin to lose shape, but the sail will still get you home even if you roll it up to handkerchief size.

Let me know if you want any more details...I don't have it in me right now to recreate the whole response!

heartofgold · Post by **heartofgold** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:53 pm

Tim,
Thanks for the reply. Actually I was looking forward to a lengthy reply from you (and others), but the content of your reply was precisely what I was hoping to hear (in fact, I was looking at CDI furlers specifically). If you get the opportunity to recreate your extensive respones, great. If you don't have it in you to redo it, that's ok, too.

Can you offer any other advice on sizing sails, especially for a roller furler which has not yet been purchased; or more specifically, as I am completely inexperienced with roller furling units, where do I begin when setting this all up (FYI: the only local sail loft has yet to impress me with either their customer service or their prices. I have no clue of their quality as I have yet to get that far with them). Anything you can offer to educate me or get me started would be good.