135 or 155 for racer/cruiser

[noworries]

We race now, we're going to go cruising in 3-5 years.

We've got a tired 140 on the boat.  We do pretty well with it.  We're looking at getting a new dacron sail from Hyde with a racing cut.  Problem is do we want to go with a 155 and furl it as needed, or do we want to go with a 135. 

The 140 we have is pretty good for the prevailing conditions, but when it's light it's obviously not as good.

If I'm furling it to 140 most of the time I guess I'll be sacrificing shape at that point, which will make us slower in the races?  Plus a 155 is harder to tack.

Any thoughts from the folks here?

[Jim Hardesty]

You are a racer...buy them all.

Seriously, normal wind speeds is what should dictate what sail you have and buy.  Also, how do you go down wind.  Whisker pole, a larger sail is better.  If you use a spinnaker, the smaller jib tacks faster and hard on the wind gives up little speed.

Me, if I had a whisker pole, I'd go with the larger sail.  If not, I'd go with the smaller and use an asymmetrical spinnaker for down wind and light air.

Jim

[Les Luzar]

In general I would say that in Long Beach CA a 155 is too much sail for most of the average conditions and even with my 135 the boat easily sails above 6 knots frequently and can be overpowered without sail adjustment. I don't know of anybody in Long Beach with a 155 unless they moved here from a lighter wind area or are hanking on their sails, and then they would have multiple sails. I have a 135 and I get plenty of speed, even with my three blade non-folding prop. For Long Beach, I would not want any more sail than my 135, as an all purpose sail. However, if you really are racing you should have downwind sails (spinnaker, asymetrical etc) for off the wind tacks, and a folding prop. This will help you to get more speed broad reaching or downwind. Of course everything is a trade-off, especially with a cruiser/racer, and you will have to make that decision ultimately. This is a question where if you ask ten sailors the same questions, you will most likely get 10 different answers. Just a few thoughts.

[Ron Hill]

No : You haven't said if you are a tall or standard rig - that makes a big differance. 

[noworries]

Standard rig.  I'm leaning towards the 135 based on these comments.  We have a spinnaker (sym) but haven't flown it yet.  Still getting the rigging together (somebody gave us the sail).

135 will be easier to tack, and when it's light we're obviously not very competitive being more of a cruiser.  Thanks for the input.

[Mick Laver]

Pardon the question from the spinnaker nube, but this thread seems timely.

I was talking to my sail guy about getting a whisker pole for my 135 to improve downwind performance, and he said I'd be a lot better off with an asymmetric spinnaker with a dousing sock. He felt it would be easier to deploy than the pole, various guys, and the genoa, would provide better performance, and be easier to take down with the sock than de-rigging the pole. I always thought spinnakers were a PITA, esp. for short-handed sailing. Are the asym's that much easier?

I really don't think he's just trying to sell me a new sail, BTW. He knows he'll get my business with one sail or another. Thanks.

[Ted Pounds]

An asymmetric with a "sock" is very easy to handle.  I even single-handed mine a couple of times.     And it's a huge improvement downwind in light air...

[Jim Hardesty]

I agree with Ted.   An asymmetrical w/sock is easy, especially with the stable platform and good deck of a Catalina 34.  Just know that dead down wind doesn't work well without a pole.  Get much better speed 15-20 degrees from dead down wind.  Jibbing is easy, the sail just goes outside the forstay.  You need long sheets, (approx 2* boat length) and use care with the lazy sheet that you don't get it under the boat. 
Jim

[Ron Hill]

No : I also have a standard rig and went with a 150% genoa and really like it.
 
I had it made out of a cruising laminate with a bi-radial cut. With the bi-radial cut and a foam luff - it reefs very nicely.  A Thought

[noworries]

I ended up going with a 155% dacron sail new from Hyde.  The price was comparable to nationalsails but I know the measurements are perfect for our boat.

I'm still working on getting the rigging together for my chute, maybe I should start another thread about that.  I've been through the archives but still at a loss at what the best way to get all the rigging done and all the new lines setup in the cockpit.

As far as sailing an asym, I know guys that can single hand with one, but if you're not a hard core salty dog, I'd suggest a gennaker and a pole for light air.

The pole comes in handy with any headsail you might be flying.  We raced last weekend... the wind was light and shifty.  We rounded the first mark and went wing on wing with the pole out, rounded the next mark on a beam reach that turned back into wing on wing again... then rounded the next mark for a wing on wing run to the last mark.  Rounded the last mark to port while one of the C37's from the Congressional cup rounded to starboard... pretty exciting stuff.  We missed first place by 3 seconds to a J/32.

[Ron Hill]

No : Good for you!!

I'd suggest that you look at the movable Genoa sheet cars made by Garhauer.  Makes it much simpler to get the best Genoa sail shape from the cockpit with that movable car system!!   A thought

[noworries]

I already got those... but even better is the traveler upgrade.  You can have a drink in one hand and move our traveler with the other... it's so easy.