Like many other boats of this size and type, our 36-footer has a 130 percent reefing genoa on a furler. To consider other factors affecting storm sail construction and trim, let’s look at three different boats: a 36-foot modern coastal cruiser, a 50-foot bluewater cruiser, and 45-foot offshore racer.Ī cutter stay is ideal for setting a storm jib in tandem with the trysail it concentrates the sailplan’s center of effort amidships (left) The Storm Bag from Banner Bay Marine contains a two-ply storm jib that can be easily hoisted over a furled headsail As with the storm jib, your sail will sheet correctly when you set it to the pre-marked height. Sheet the sail to the strong point, hoist it with a halyard, and when the sheet lead is correct, mark the length of the tack pennant. You can sheet it to the end of the boom, or to a strong point on either quarter. Just as you did with your storm jib, select a sturdy sheeting point for your trysail. The stack height of a mainsail equipped with luff cars can be considerable, and you do not want any part of the sail to chafe against the trysail. In this case, you want to be able to set the sail above your mainsail, which will be lashed to the boom. The reason for having a tack pennant on a trysail is a little different. Your sheet lead will automatically be in the right place. When it comes time to set the sail in a storm, you need only attach the pennant at the base of the stay and hoist the sail. Then note the location of the tack and mark the length of the pennant at the base of the stay. Raise the sail with a spare halyard until the sheet lead position, with the sail sheeted for sailing close-hauled, is in the right place. Storm jibs have high clews to begin with, so you have some flexibility when it comes to sheet location.
It may also depend on your deck hardware, as you should adjust the pennant so that you can sheet the storm jib to your strongest turning block. How high you should raise the tack depends upon the size of your boat. As a first step, adjust the jib’s tack pennant, a length of sturdy line or wire bent on to the tack of the storm jib that allows you to raise the sail up off the foredeck so that waves can wash under and not into it. There are a number of reasons for doing a dry run, the most important of which is to find and mark the location of the sheeting positions for the sails. Next, before you leave the dock, practice setting your storm sails-and ignore the sideways glances from your neighbors!
So when you’re on passage, your storm sails need to be easy to locate and ready to use. This is a mistake: nothing is more important than the safety of the boat and crew. Typically, storm sails are buried in the depths of a locker or under a bunk, leaving the more accessible space for other items deemed more important.
It’s an old joke among yacht brokers that the only two untouched sails on a typical cruising boat are the spinnaker and the storm jib. If you are preparing to depart on an ocean passage, start by thinking about sail stowage. It’s best to bend it on before things get too rough (left) but flies well once hoisted (right) There is no cause for a coastal cruising boat to carry a trysail, but you may be glad of a storm jib (left) The Gale Sail from ATN is a storm jib that can be set over a furled headsail.
0 kommentar(er)
