Craig, I was hoping some others would join in on this thread. I've never been in a "survival" situation (other than maybe the night I was out in the middle of a big lake with a broken motor and a lightning storm rolling in), but wouldn't you agree that performance and safety are somewhat related? Lyle Hess designed these boats to get you home safely, but if your sails won't work properly, you're relegated to motoring in rough conditions and personally, I would much rather sail in rough water. The sails stabilize the motion of the boat and drive her through the waves rather than bouncing around and rolling like motoring. That being said, back to your original question, is a roller furler the way to go if you anticipate those conditions? Maybe not. Some say having that furled headsail up there stabilizes the rolling of the boat. Others would argue that you want to reduce windage as much as possible and having that big "sausage" out there in the wind is a big problem. Your genoa will not furl down to the size of a storm sail and work very well. You can get a storm sail that will fit over the furled genoa, which will also help prevent the sail from coming unfurled, but they're expensive and put you up on the bow in nasty conditions. Something you're trying to avoid in the first place with a furling headsail. Talk to your sailmaker. You may want to go with a smaller genoa than the 155 you're thinking about. Maybe a 130 or so, which should reef a little smaller. All just my opinions. Anyone else want to add jump in here? Larry On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 19:40:12 -0400 "Craig F. Honshell" <chonshell@ia4u.net> writes:
What about when you're not particularly concerned with performance, and just want to get home safely?
----- Original Message ----- From: Larry E Yake To: chonshell@ia4u.net ; montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2005 5:03 PM Subject: roller furling
Craig, I'm no expert on sails, but I believe the rule of thumb is that you can furl a properly built sail down 30% and still have efficient sail shape. I've had better luck than that, probably going down 50% and still having what I consider satisfactory performance. Racers in the group might not agree. My experience is strictly with my own boat and I find the convenience well worth any performance I might be giving up in stronger winds. I've had good success going to wind in some rough conditions when others had to motor to make any progress, so it must be working fairly well. Larry
On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 12:36:44 -0400 "Craig F. Honshell" <chonshell@ia4u.net> writes:
Would 155% be too hard to reef to a very small size, Larry (or anyone)? I need a new genny ... I had my 110% modified to fit my CDI (Gilbert I have no idea whether I have FF1 or FF2, and don't know whether I have the webbing or grommet??? I bought it used, salvaged from a totaled Hunter, and had it set up by a local sailmaker ...), so it's even smaller than 110% now ... I have a sadly underpowered 17' with a tiny genoa and blown-out McKibbon main ... But I like the fact that I can size the current foresail to a postage-stamp on dicey days ... Would I still be able to do so if I had a 155%? Thanks, Craig
----- Original Message ----- From: Larry E Yake To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 10:31 AM Subject: roller furling
I have a 150 genoa with luff tape to retain sail shape when partially furled. I've used it down to 90% and smaller and it still works well. You need to adjust your sheet blocks forward as you furl, of course. I'm in eastern Washington. Sail mostly in north Idaho with the occasional trip to the west side... San Juans, etc. Lots of light wind areas. The 150 really brings the boat to life. Larry _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats