Mainsail Roach

[PK]

After spending a nice day at the Strictly Sail boat show in Oakland last weekend, I now know where to spend the rest of my life's savings..No lack of options there!
More to the subject...We are looking to replace our mainsail and received various quotes at the show.  Interestingly the size quoted varies quite a bit from loft to loft.  We really like the people at Doyle, their price was competitive, they offered to come to the boat and set up the new sail, support if anything happened and they are close by.  They quoted us a sail that was 275 SF.  That's 20% bigger than OEM.  I'm assuming the added size comes from increasing the roach of the sail.  What are peoples thoughts on this issue?  Is that too much sail?  Will we always be reefing earlier than before?  Also, we run a Dutchman system and I'm not sure if the toping lift/Dutchman system will be compatable with a larger roach on the main sail.  Any thoughts would be helpfull in our decision process.  Thanks

[Lance Jones]

A good loft will come out and measure your boat before they cut the first piece of fabric.
As to bigger than OEM. A firm, IT DEPENDS, is my answer....
What type sailing do you do?
Cruising -- what type wind do you normally sail in?
Racing -- One design or PHRF?

I sail Kitty's Cat as a cruiser on Lake Lanier. I wish I had a wee bit bigger main to take advantage of the light summer wind. My wife likes what we have as it sails a bit flatter and that is what she likes. I'm just a bit more aggressive in my sailing likes.

One Design racing may have a bit more stringent rules on sail size. Your secret is safe on this site! Doh!
PHRF is a lot more easy with sail requirements depending on your area.

[horsemel]

There are some real considerations with regard to having too much roach.  A number of years ago a friend of mine owned an Irwin.  Nice boat, but as the wind came up it was a battle to keep it from rounding up.  The helmsman really had to put some effort into handling the boat above 15 knots of wind.  He concluded that the sail had too much roach.  When he told me that he intended to take it too the loft and have some of the roach taken out I thought he had lost his mind.  He did it and the boat became one of the sweetest handling boats you ever wanted to helm. 
Mark Mueller

[Stu Jackson]

pk, there are lots of C34s here on The Bay.  Many of them have ordered new mainsails and I have not heard of this kind of issue.  You might want ot try contacting Dave Davis, through this board, and ask him.  Bigger roach tends to get in the way of a topping lift as well as a backstay, too.

[PK]

I thought I would update everyone on what I've found since there really wasn't much of a direct response to the original question and there's not much info regarding this floating around out there.

My original question was; how do I compare price to price and sail to sail from different lofts when they all quote you a different sail size? 

What I've gathered is that none of us really has a 231 SF mainsail!  If you do, it probably looks really funny.  The 231 SF number is simply the area produced by a right triangle using your boom as one side and the height of your mast from the boom to the mast head as the other side of the triangle.  The 231 SF number is really an attempt at standardizing the quote you get and is what is shown on the original specs for the boat, even though your sail is probably not 231 SF!  Some lofts quote you this 231 SF number and some quote you the actual sail size.  In the end the sail they make is not dependant on a SF price and will almost always be larger than 231 SF.  In my case the three people I talked to, hovered around the 265 SF to 275 SF range.  Buying a new sail is a big decision with a high cost and not something most people do very often, so having all the information available helps put my mind at ease.  I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion for anyone trying to compare sail quotes in the future. 

[jkar]

Mine is from Doyle, TapeDrive measures in at 285.9 with a big roach.  I only have single reef point.  Works well for the Great Lakes, 3-20kts, full, over 20 reef and she comes right back.  With the big roach, in the light it does get stuck on the back stay, a quick flick and it pops free.  It also has adjustable battens at the top, if I know it is going to be light all day, I can adjust before I go out.  That does really help.