Gulf 32 Sail Plan Heavy Weather

[tsingtao]

Have a, new to me, Gulf 32 with a 150 geneoa and am planning a San Diego to Puget Sound up the west coast adventure this summer. Wondering if anyone has any ideas about jib vs geneoa or even adding a staysail? Gulf 32 is a full keel pilot house (read sloop rigged trawler) unless I get some suggestions.

[sailingfool]

For that type of trip, I would think you must have a second, smaller jib, around a 100% for sailing in breezes say 18-30. You should also have storm sails, unless you plan to never be more than a few hours from a port with guaranteed entrance (sounds not likely). Storms sails IMHO would involve a storm jib with a removeable inner forestay and a storm trysail or a three reef main.

Good luck.

[tdw]

If your genoa is set off a furler then a staysail is a nice idea even if it only used as a storm jib. It enables you to completely roll away your genoa and snugs the rig up nicely towards the centre of the boat. That coupled with a storm trisail setting on a dedicated track when you have dropped you main makes for a pretty good storm rig. Theoretically should be perfect for heaving to. If your boat does not have an existing inner forestay it is best if you rig it up so that it can be removed when not in use. Largish genoas tend to get hung up on inner forestays so they can be a right pain in the arse at times. Should you decide to go ahead and fit an inner forestay to a boat that is not currently so equipped make sure, make very sure, that you have the deck beefed up under the pad.

ps - tsingtao ? Wonderful beer but does your user name mean something else besides seriously yummy chinese beer ?

[tdw]

Originally Posted by tdw

ps - tsingtao ? Wonderful beer but does your user name mean something else besides seriously yummy chinese beer ?

Ha !! It's also the name of your boat, isn't it ?

Ah google, what we do without it.

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by tdw

If your genoa is set off a furler than a staysail is a nice idea even if it only used as a storm jib. ....

A sail usable as a staysail would be too large and of too light a fabric to serve as a storm sail. A storm sail would be to small and too heavy to be of any use as a staysail.

I've not run a rig with a staysail, but I would think one might serve as the 100% jib I suggest, I'm just not sure such a sail would offer much performance utility for the cost/aggravation.

[tsingtao]

Good beer, good boat and good suggestions. The stay sail / jib issue is exactly what I'm debating. First thought was removable stay--90 or 100 jib just as useful?? Or need both??

[chris_gee]

As a rule of thumb the standard sails cater for about 15 knots of wind. The force goes up with the square of the windspeed.
In light conditions you could have 4x the standard sail area. This is impractical.
The 150 genoa is only designed to go up to probably 10 knots max.
Your problem will be to reduce sail area for increased winds.
Say from 15 with a jib to 20 halve the sail area, at 25 a third the area at 30 a quarter.
So if you have 400 at 15, by 25 you have 130 by 30 you have 100. That is probably a storm jib and two reefs.
You need a jib and stormjib. Most people underestimate just how much and how quickly they have to reduce sail area.
As you have a roller furler, you could use a staysail instead of a jib.

[sailingdog]

If your genoa is on a furler, it might be worthwhile to get a GaleSail, which is a storm jib that hanks on over a furled headsail and prevents it from unfurling while working as a storm sail. I have a 60 sq. ft. one on my boat...

[tdw]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

A sail usable as a staysail would be too large and of too light a fabric to serve as a storm sail. A storm sail would be to small and too heavy to be of any use as a staysail.

I've not run a rig with a staysail, but I would think one might serve as the 100% jib I suggest, I'm just not sure such a sail would offer much performance utility for the cost/aggravation.

Yes, poor wording on my part. I was meaning to suggest that the sail set on the inner forestay would be a storm jib (SJ) and not a working jib.

On Raven we have an overlaping genoa on a furler, with a removeable inner forestay on which we set , when required, a storm jib. We've never used a working jib on the inner, in fact, we've never had to use the storm sail in anger. The worst conditions we have been caught in have been handled by reefing the main and partially furling the genoa. It would take a mighty blow for us to need to raise the SJ indeed it is my belief (backed up by the conditon of the sail) that in 20 years of service with us and previous owners the SJ has only been out of it's bag for interest's sake.

Apologies if I confused the issue.

[sailingfool]

Originally Posted by tdw

Yes, poor wording on my part. I was meaning to suggest that the sail set on the inner forestay would be a storm jib (SJ) and not a working jib.

On Raven we have an overlaping genoa on a furler, with a removeable inner forestay on which we set , when required, a storm jib. We've never used a working jib on the inner, in fact, we've never had to use the storm sail in anger. The worst conditions we have been caught in have been handled by reefing the main and partially furling the genoa. It would take a mighty blow for us to need to raise the SJ indeed it is my belief (backed up by the conditon of the sail) that in 20 years of service with us and previous owners the SJ has only been out of it's bag for interest's sake.

Apologies if I confused the issue.

Makes sense now. I personally don't like partially furling a sail, other than for a short sprint home, so carry 150/125/85/storm jibs so I can use an appropriate size jib for the conditions, although the 150 is often left at home.

Ditto on your storm jib comment.