Foresail sizes

[kitcat]

My new, and as yet unsailed, M has the small roller jib, but obviously I will be looking for max. performance, and wondered what difference the larger genoa or even the cruising spinnaker makes to the boat?

I'd be interested in anyones comments?

Paul

[Doug W]

I'm fairly new to sailing. I like the surface area of my Genoa during lighter winds. I included the roller furler so that I can vary the amount of 'canvas' I'm flying out front. Probably not efficient but I'm not a racer and it seemed to solve my needs.

...Doug
http://starsloop.blogspot.com/

[Rick Westlake]

I sailed my first boat, "Beija-Flor," under its "working jib" (the small jib) for the whole first summer of sailing it. Beija-Flor has hank-on jibs, and I was cautious (one might even say 'chicken') about getting overpowered. I finally did try the genoa, on a light-wind day, and during my second year with Beija-Flor I got an asymmetric spinnaker and used that for really light winds.

Are you an experienced sailor, just new to the Mac? Then you might want the genoa - and if your current jib is still in the bag, you might be able to trade it in toward the genoa. And I'd venture to say that eventually you will want a cruising spinnaker too.

But if you're new to sailing, as I was with Beija-Flor, I'd advise you that the small jib might be more comfortable for your first season. It's safer, and more comfortable, to be "under-canvased" rather than "over-canvased"; after all, you have that engine to get you home if you're in a hurry.

Welcome to MacGregorSailors, and I hope you enjoy you new !

(PS - we all like to know where our fellow members are sailing; please fill out your "User Profile" and satisfy our curiosity. )

[c130king]

I am in agreement with Doug. I have the 150% Genoa on roller furling. If the winds pick up I roll it partially in. Not as efficient as having a jib but like Doug I am not racing or that worried about max speed. I normally keep the full Genoa out for quite a while. When the winds pick up I reef the main and leave full Genoa. Probably around 15 MPH (a guess as I don't have a wind speed guage) I start to roll in the Genoa.

If you are in an area of high winds you may want to consider leaving a jib on the furler. If you will experience a lot of light winds maybe go with a bigger Genoa.

Or if you are really into maximising the efficiency of your fore sail then go with multiple hank ons as described by Rick.

Good Luck,
Jim

[Scott]

When we had the Mac I primarily used the Genoa and rolled it according to wind speed.

On the Cat 22 we have a Genoa, Jib and storm jib. I like the superior performance of the right sail for the occasion. The biggest diff is in really heavy wind. Reefed main and storm jib makes for comfortable sailing even ini winds over 30 MPH. That and you still go really fast.

The trade off being that you are saddled with what you hank on at the marina or you have to re canvas out on the water. The roller sure is neat when all you do is pull or release a line to re canvas.

[Hardcrab]

Putting some numbers to heavy air and light air.
Light air for the Mac stops around 12 knots - just about when some wind generated waves just start getting small white tops.
The middle ground is 13-15 knots, and some great sailing.
Heavy air starts about 17-18 knots.

Of course, these are just some subjective numbers I've read on this site.

Jib or genny could be selected with these numbers in mind.
If your sailing area normal winds fall into the light area, a rolled genny is hard to beat for the average Mac sailor.
Normal winds above that could mean the rolled jib.

I'm backwards from c130king's method in that my genny is the first thing I'll shorten up when winds get above the 13-15 knot area.
Pulling in 3 or 4 turns on the furler works well to reduce excessive heel but keeping good speed.
Then comes reduced vang to dump the top of the main.
The winds here don't usally get up to were a main reef is needed.
Or if they do, we don't cast off anyhow.

[Terry]

I don't have a spinnaker yet so I can't comment on it, but I do have a jib & genoa. I started with hank-ons, first season jib only then got the genoa second season and now have both hank-ons converted to luff tape and roller furler. We get a fair share of both light and strong winds here in the PNW so I have made frequent use of both headsails. Without a doubt having a genoa is almost mandatory especially when winds are light, you really need the extra square footage. Between the Musclehead and my 205 sq. ft. genoa I have just over 400 sq. ft. of canvas, nice to have in light airs. It gets a bit onerous having to switch headsails around though but since I always did it with the hank-ons I still do it with the furler. My Schaefer Snapfurler makes changing out the sails a bit easier than some other furlers and it is much easier to have to switch from jib to genoa increasing sail when winds are light than to down size from genoa to jib when it starts blowing too strong. I usually decide which sail to use before I even leave my slip and sometimes I am wrong but that is seldom. I quite like having the option to switch headsails and always will, that is why I plan to have a spinnaker in the future as well. I am one of those sailors that takes it one step beyond cruising but not quite to racing. It may seem like a bit more work to use more than one headsail, but I believe in the end it is worth it, you learn more.

[c130king]

How come none of you crazy funny guys have said:

"It's not the size that matters...it's how you use it".



Jim

[Scott]

Because Kit kat is new and only has like 3 posts. Plus a serious question was asked.

We dont want to let on how dysfunctional we are until a new member/owner has been around for awhile, like 11 posts.

[Highlander]

Their is always other options ! once he gets past 11 posts !
More rag is always desirable but you must attain the sailing skills & get to know how the boat handles first
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010097.jpg
Terry
That sounds like too much work now let me see genny in or out jib in or out cant make up your mind Oh well what the heck why not just let them both fly
working on something new for my #3 head sail #3 of six

J

[kitcat]

Thanks for the welcome guys, and for not giving my too much stick...........yet. Don't worry, I'll no doubt be asking all sorts of silly questions in time.

FYI I'm based in the UK, and will be sailing the the South West of this tiny island. One thing I've quickly found out is that our slipways are diabolical, compared to the lovely graded ramps that you guys have.

My wife and I are currently taking a 5 week vacation in New Zealand, and the sailing waters here are just magical. I'm off to the Coramandel Peninsular tomorrow or the next day, and if there are any Mac. sailors there who fancy taking my wife and I out, we would be really stoked.

We'll be returning to a cold UK at the end of March, when I can get around to fitting out my new M with all those little things that you just can't leave home without, like and anchor and chain etc

I've done a fair bit of sailing over the last 40 years but normally as crew, so this is only the second and largest vessel of which I am completely in charge.............if I think too much about it, it can get a little scary

Keep the advice coming, I'm all ears.

Paul.

[Kelly Hanson East]

Welcome aboard Paul

One thing about Macs compared to comparable keelboats...the light weight and high freeboard means they blow around a lot more than you might be used to on the other boats you have crewed. Once you master this, they behave like tender dinghies mostly.

I sail a 32 Ericson on Lake Ontario and charter boats from 32-40 foot on San Fran Bay, and find them all a lot easier to handle than the Mac!

[restless]

In NZ! Lovely!
If you wanna hand chucking the boat in or finding out at what point she broaches etc I'm happy to help out. We got a slip 10mins walk from home, going straight into Poole harbour. Pretty cool place to kick off! Whereabouts in SWUK?
BTW we have a 150% genny on a dci furler and are absolutely fine with it, our 3rd outing turned into an F8-9 in the Solent and the boat ran beautifully!
Cheers

[kitcat]

Thanks for the kind words. Restless, I'm not that far from Poole harbour, up near Taunton, about an hour and a half to drive down, so thanks for the offer, it is one I may very well take you up on, as the only decent slip near me is the one at Lyme Regis Harbour, and Poole looks so much nicer to sail. For all our American cousins, [and others of course ] Lyme Regis is a beautiful little town on the south coast of England, whose main claim to fame worldwide, is that it is where they made a film called "The French Lieutenants Woman" about 25 years ago, Google it.

Paul

[bubba]

We visited there about 8 years ago when traveling in England teaching horse back riding near Axminster and Membury. Cool village to visit, great sea food too. We were dressed in our best western cowboy clothing boots and all, the locals just staired at us like we were alians.