MacGregorSailors.com

OK ...as many of you have done, I too now (give or take) have a New Roller Furler and 115 Sail.. But I still possess my original Hank on jib sail..
What to do with this sail in my question? What have you fellows done with this unit?
Its my understanding that its useless trying to use it up front again and ...why would I ?
Might I modify it ( I have access to a sewing machine that can be used to install the rope)to use as a heavy wind main sail? I have read as well , where numerous folks on our boats as well as others , now run a 115 up front and a 85 for the main. My concern about that combination is.... My 100 main works Great ...as a single sail , in light to moderate winds and is ideal for allowing New Sailors .... to give it a go..
So what are your thoughts and ideas??

You can either

- add a second forestay (makes rig safer and has high cool factor)

or

Have a luff tape ewn into the sail, making it usable on your new furler.

Personally, I would sell it on the Board and buy a new jib with the luff tape - might be cheaper....

Edited iPad auotcorrects

Thanks Cat... I bought a new roller and 115 from Bill ...at Boats 4 Sail.. I think will try to modify the Jib as a Back Up ...Main/Storm /Heavy Wind Sail. Well unless I get a better solution..
I am contemplating making some changes to my rigging though.. It will depend on just how serious I get about making some long haul, long term trips..
My rigging as is, is just fine , as best as, I can tell after trips under sail with a total of 4 hours in the bowels of hull in the teeth of the devil himself..

But Cat....I am dieing to mimic JamesV off this board and his long term trip to the Bahamas and thru the Keys and the 10,000 island area ...
I guess I need to pose some question's.. Just how much bigger should I go on the rigging? What else really needs to be changed? OK OK The Spreaders for sure and I think I have a source for better stronger spreaders of the exact same size..
Maybe I will start a new topic, on just that ...

Hey Divecoz,
I faced a similar situation a few years ago. I had my hank-on jib & genoa but was also procuring a new rollerfurler (Schaefer Snapfurl CF700). I was trying to decide between a new genoa with luff tape and sell the hanks or modify my existing sails. I took all my sails into Northsails for evaluation and in the end I took the sailmakers advice and for $150.00/sail had them converted. He said the sails were still crinkly and had plenty of life in them and that I would get the most bang for my buck thru conversion and today I see he was right. It will only cost you $150.00 to convert your jib.

As for your rigging concern, the one piece of rigging I always quetioned was the forestay. Why would Macgregor expect that scrawny 1/8 forestay with that anemic little 1/4 turnbuckle to stand up to four big bully shrouds tugging the opposite direction. I had to upgrade my forestay to 5/32 to accomodate the Schaefer Snapfurler so when I took my oem forestay to the rigging shop for modification the guy advised me that it may be more desireable to to just pay an extra $40.00 and replace the 1/4 turnbuckle with the next size up, a 5/16 turbuckle. Well it all fit inside my new furler and now I have a much beefier forestay/turnbuckle that can better stand up to those bully shrouds. My Schaefer unit does not have an internal halyard but instead makes use of my existing jib halyard so changing from jib to genoa is very much the same as it was with hanks, no big deal, I now regularly switch from jib to genoa. Keep your sail.

Hi Terry! I am opting for a CDI RB Furler.. Better than Macs but maybe not as good as others But the price is right.
I will look into and discuss with Bill at Boats 4 Sail...about the forestay. Makes good sense to me.. But what do I know hahaha
No sailing this past season, so I am already itching for next year.... Hopefully I will be moved to warmer Lat's and on some big water..

Interesting post HERE that includes some discussion of increasing size of cables and turnbuckles and such...starting about 1/2-way down...just remembered reading it.

Thanks Vizwhiz for the link... But remember folks... we have 1/8 " NOT 1/4" forestays.....makes a HUGE difference in the calculations!

Spreaders?? I think I have a solution for those @#$%^&*!!!! But it may not be cost effective for members here. I am trading some electrical work to be done in a machine shop, for what they say will be Spreaders of the same length, same diameter, but only weighing a couple ounces.. more than the Originally Supplied Spreaders and no less than 5 times stronger..
I am retired , so my time is my own...Kind Of... As I see it . Worse case scenario... I am out of the house and out from under "someones " scrutiny.. No Longer hearing the same old questions? What do you do all day? I mean , besides PLAAAYYY..... with the MG and The Boat and Your New Guitar?
What is he suggesting that he might build me? He is going to use and entirely different alloy for the same diameter and length "pipes" / Spreaders..
He is going to Press fit a + piece down the center of said spreader.. Then he will machine New Better Stronger attachment bracket.
I said how about a new mast out of that "stuff"... He said I dont need THAT much electrical work done

vizwhiz wrote:Interesting post HERE that includes some discussion of increasing size of cables and turnbuckles and such...starting about 1/2-way down...just remembered reading it.

Okay, since the topic is technically about hank-on jibs, can you reduce sail area (furl?) a hanked-on jib? How do you do it?
Just wondering because one of the boats I'm looking at has a roller-furler, and the other doesn't...
I figgered I could probably make something that would work kinda like cookwithgas made (not as pretty probably!) for his 22, but before I went all the way down that path, I wanted to at least ask the question.

VW,

If you plan to do much single-handing you will probably be happier with roller-furling. You can do the hank-on single-handed...I know that some of the folks on this board do...but furling is so much easier. I try to stay off the deck as much as possible...especially when the winds pick up. Nice to be able to control everything from the cockpit.

I don't think a "normal" hank-on jib can be "reduced" in any way. It is normally either fully up or fully down.

Love my roller furling -- König Roller Furling and Lazy Jacks

Cheers,
Jim

Viz I wish I was there right now, as I would Gladly take you out for the weekend on The Wind Wine & Song..
She's a 2005 M with a 50 HP Merc Big Foot on the back. But year and model and HP are just personal choice.. What she has to offer in accomodations, is above and beyond IMHO... anything else in her class, size and $$$$
I would allow you to decide /imagine, what it would be like , after our weekend aboard, to then spend 2days to 2 weeks with the whole family aboard her..... or aboard a cutty cabin instead.
Lots of folks do just that.. Vacation with the family aboard these power sailors.
You Live in Florida... The possibilities are endless within a 2 to 4 hour drive. Once you launch in Charlotte Harbor, you can sail or motor 20 miles out to Pelican Bay , or tune to port and head down to Matlacha or further down Cabbage Key then on to Sanibel. Drive if you like to Marco or Marco Island and launch and do the 10,000 islands Marine Park. What The Heck..... drive to the Keys.... Kids getting bored? Drop that sail and tow the kids on tubes or even water-ski. She's big enough to leave the kids on board (?) and you and the wife walk to a place for dinner and return and finish that game of monopoly with the kids .. snug as a bug with a potty on board an a fridge or a big cooler , even fresh water and a sink and a stove and even a microwave....Each boat has its purpose and only you can, in the end decide what you THINK your needs will be..

Oh don't we know it!!! You're preachin' to the choir...we are on board in a big way!! Um...now we just need a boat...minor little detail.

Wifey is in love with the and it is definitely going to be in our future - it is definitely the way we want to go. For now, though, I (not her) have targeted an "S" to get us on the water, learn to sail, get the sail-camping started...mostly price and tow vehicle issues...I'm even thinking about how to put a rotating mast and second forestay on the "S". (I've been reading these forums way too much...)

We're paying child support and otherwise encumbered more than we'd like, but that ends in a year-and-a-half, so we'll see what happens when we get our big "raise". Our kids don't live with us, so we live kinda like a semi-retired couple's lifestyle except that I have to work all the time...but we get away together all the time (that's where the camping comes in). We have some grandkids that are all small, so the parents don't travel much yet, but eventually, we'll have them coming down for sailing trips and such - the goal would be to have a powersailer in the next few years so they can all come down and play and we can take them sailing and such...

But in the mean time, it's just us two, and we want to get started as soon as possible...that's why I'm force-feeding my canoe. I'm in sales, and my territory is the west coast of Florida, so I'm down there all the time - Cape Coral is one of my customers, and I'm heading down that way in a couple weeks...Marco Island (we love to eat at the Snook Inn - great grouper and Mahi sammiches!) up to Pasco County - New Port Richey, Hudson, etc. and everywhere in-between... I wonder if the boss would mind it if I took my boat on sales calls...