Last year I was faced with the possibility of having to do a lot of single hand sailing. Not caring about ever racing I decided to fabricate a track system for a self tacking jib. I sailed all last season with this setup and loved it. Most of my sailing days last year were in 15 to 20 mph winds, so I didn't really notice much performance loss.
This year the winds have not been as good. The boat has been slower than normal all season, and the boat heeled more than the past year. I also could not point into the wind as much as I needed. Two weeks ago I really started thinking about this so I began to look at things including sail shape. With the self tacking set-up and the standard size sail I could never get a good sail shape. Instead of a nice flat sail I had a bag.
Last week I disconnected the rig and went back to two lines. It's a whole new boat! Lesson learned, you must be able to maintain proper sail shape.
