G'day all. We're looking at purchasing a heavy weather jib. Couple of reasons:
Firstly, we're looking at doing some Cat 4 offshore racing and the rules require that we have one!
Secondly, and a better reason, our current 140% on a roller furler is just not suitable for anything above 25kts. We'd feel a lot more comfortable and sail better with a smaller sail in the inventory.
The Australian Yachting Federation rules define the Cat 4 requirement to be ""A heavy-weather jib of area not greater than 13.5% x (height of the foretriangle (I) squared), and without reef points"" This equates to a size of around 20sq m.
We've had a local sailmaker measure up and provide a design - see the attached. He's designed it around the current track position and he reckons it'll be ""ok"". But he does acknowledge that the relative positions of the jib-track and stays mean we probably won't get a real tight sheeting angle. Clew is going to be around head-height so viz wont be a problem. But we don't want to spend money on a sail that won't sheet well. It'll end up staying in the bag.
Question: What do others do? We've seen some posts that suggest extending the track. Others that have placed a small track on the coach-house top. We're also mindful of the original design intent of the C34. There's a reason why the track is the size it is.
Background: We sail on Sydney Harbour and coastal offshore. It can blow a bit from time to time and we often find ourselves racing in 25-30kts. Swells and very lumpy seas mean you don't want to be overpowered and you do want good visibility.
Apparently it can also get a bit breezy on the Great Lakes and on SF harbour
so it'd be great to hear what others are doing.
Firstly, we're looking at doing some Cat 4 offshore racing and the rules require that we have one!
Secondly, and a better reason, our current 140% on a roller furler is just not suitable for anything above 25kts. We'd feel a lot more comfortable and sail better with a smaller sail in the inventory.
The Australian Yachting Federation rules define the Cat 4 requirement to be ""A heavy-weather jib of area not greater than 13.5% x (height of the foretriangle (I) squared), and without reef points"" This equates to a size of around 20sq m.
We've had a local sailmaker measure up and provide a design - see the attached. He's designed it around the current track position and he reckons it'll be ""ok"". But he does acknowledge that the relative positions of the jib-track and stays mean we probably won't get a real tight sheeting angle. Clew is going to be around head-height so viz wont be a problem. But we don't want to spend money on a sail that won't sheet well. It'll end up staying in the bag.
Question: What do others do? We've seen some posts that suggest extending the track. Others that have placed a small track on the coach-house top. We're also mindful of the original design intent of the C34. There's a reason why the track is the size it is.
Background: We sail on Sydney Harbour and coastal offshore. It can blow a bit from time to time and we often find ourselves racing in 25-30kts. Swells and very lumpy seas mean you don't want to be overpowered and you do want good visibility.
Apparently it can also get a bit breezy on the Great Lakes and on SF harbour
so it'd be great to hear what others are doing.