Hey there, Gardner.
I hear you about the heavy sail. That's going to require some sweat,
a friend who will play winch monkey, or an electric winch. I'd add an
electric winch and then hope not to use it most of the time. One only
has to hoist a main so many times in one day.
Note that the visionarry rig is 860 sf, and the rig on my theoretical
Harry is 755 sf, so it's a bit smaller.
As for the sail shape, it might not be as bad as you think. If the
sail is cut properly with full battens, it will maintain a good shape
regardless of how light the wind gets, with the benefit of not having
to worry about it blowing it out if you round up into too much apparent
wind and/or the wind picks up. In fact, the shape will probably be so
good that you'll have to look at your telltales, not your sail, to
judge trim.
There is a bit of a penalty, though. You'll need to adjust batten
tension depending upon how much wind there is that day, and maybe use a
set of more flexible battens most of the time, and heavier battens for
serious weather. Or, you could yank on the boom/sheet after each shunt
to switch the battens over to the next side.
The furling headsail will be more convenient on a one-time basis, but
if you only have to adjust batten tension twice in a day, that might
end up being less total effort.
You could possibly get fancy with the mainsail and use serious cloth
for a top stormsail section, heavy cloth down to the next reef, and
standard cloth for the rest of the reefs/sail. I don't know if anyone
does that, but it's an idea worth batting about.
- Mike
Gardner Pomper wrote:
Hi Mike,
It does seem that just putting Rare Bird's rig on a Harry would give
you good numbers, but I am concerned that might now show the whole
picture.
For one, the main is going to be a very heavy sailcloth and in light
air it seems like it will have trouble setting the proper shape. Much
easier for a sail that is designed for 0-15 kts, instead of one
designed for 10-50 kts.
Less importantly, but it is also going to be quite an effort lifting
that whole 500 sq ft of main for that light air performance. I know
the exercise is good for me, but when I get all sweaty, my wine and
cheeze mood sours <grin>.
Is it possible to design a larger headsail where the center of effort
is far enough aft to keep the COE of the whole rig aft of the mast? I
have not been able to find out how to calculate that. Can somebody on
the list help with that?
If that could be done, with a light fabric, it seems like it would be
a handy solution (other than having to roll it up to complete your
shunt).
- Gardner
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