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Dear sailors,
I am facing a dilemma concerning my head sail.
I own a C&C 27 Mark II that has hank on sails that need to be changed (originals sails: 170%, 150% and 120%). Furthermore, I will need to change the standing rigging.
For a replacement I have few options and would appreciate your experiences and inputs.
I race on the Canadian West Coast in PHRF club racing in fall, winter and spring and in the summer I cruise with the family. So, I am asking the boat to be multi-function.
Option 1: purchase new head sails with hank on. Say 155%, 100% and a storm jib. Simple design. Just slower for sail change.
Option 2: same as above but with a twin blade system; faster to change sail and better profile for racing.
Option 3: roller furling with a specific reefing sail (with stretchy material that keeps the sail in shape while reefed)
I am old school and believe in simplicity and hanks on jibs are giving me a good sense of confidence. With strong winds (25 knts and up, I would think that a hank on jib would be better than a rolled up jib on a roller furling). Also, I am afraid to loose efficiency for racing with a roller furling. Then again, roller furling are not new technology and they are everywhere in marinas, so they must be good.
Anyone of you is racing and cruising? What option did you choose?
Thanks a lot for your inputs.
Stéphane; Mystery C&C27 Mark II
Victoria BC
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Hey there Stephane. Using roller furling does not eliminate your ability to use the right size headsail for any given wind condition, it just gives you more options. The two top furling systems are the Harken and the Selden Furlex, both of which combine a twin-blade foil system with roller-furling capability. Both have been used by round-the-world racers in extreme conditions. My boat, Carriden, has used a Harken system for many years. While racing, we usually bypass the furling function in order to fly our deck-sweeper genoa and simply use the twin-foil aspect of the furling extrusion to allow for headsail changes. When cruising, I load on the cruising genoa and enjoy the simplicity of simply furling and unfurling without having to run around the foredeck. We occasionally get blasted by some serious line squalls here on the Great Lakes; last summer we had one that jumped from 5 knots to 50 knots in a matter of seconds. At such a moment, it is a great relief to be able to simply roll the sail up and stop worrying about having it or crew up on the foredeck.
I am a great believer in flying the right-size sail for any given condition and, even though equipped with roller furling, I carry a full inventory of headsails. Especially for racing, having the right headsail with the right shape makes a big difference to performance. However, I really appreciate the extra options which roller furling gives me, especially when I am not racing. Further, the twin-foil headstay does provide a cleaner leading edge for performance. Good roller furling is one of those rare situations which pretty much allows you to have your cake and eat it too.
Marcus from Carriden
Mk III, Hull #847
Oakville, Ontario
Marcus Opitz,
Formerly from Carriden, Mk III, Hull #847,
now skippering "Everdina," a 1975 Ontario 32
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Thanks Marcus for your comments. Sounds like a good option. I could ask my sailmaker to make a cruising roller genoa out of my current hank on genoa and order two nice sails for racing (a large and medium).
What size do you have for racing? When you bypass the roller you do not take it off, do you?
Stéphane
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Hello again Stephane. If your current genoa is an all-Dacron unit, then the sailmaker should have no trouble setting it up for roller furling. It is primarily a matter of removing the hanks and replacing them with the proper size luff tape, then adding a UV protective strip along the leech and the foot. Here on Lake Ontario, we typically race PHRF and that means that I limit my largest racing genoa to a 153%, to avoid an extra handicap. My number 2 is about 130% and my working jib is, of course, only a 100%. I also carry a storm jib, which is a handkerchief, in order to meet requirements for distance races. It has yet to be used outside of a test hoist.
I do not remove the furling drum when using my racing genoa. I just tack the sail down to the bow casting and let it bend around the drum. This creates a slight wrinkle at the tack of the sail, but not enough to trouble us. When flying the number 2, I may hank it on to the top of the drum, if I think that there is any chance that I would want to furl it. Otherwise, it too goes on to the bow casting. For the working jib, I always hank it on to the top of the furling drum, as this sets up the sheeting angle to allow the sheets to come down to the inboard tracks, which vastly improves pointing.
One thing which I should mention: I use two distinct genoa halyards. The wire/rope halyard is used for the racing genoa, as it allows the most precise control of luff tension. This line leads directly to the port-side sheave at the top of the mast and trying to furl while using this halyard leads to problems with the halyard wrapping around the forestay extrusion near the top of the mast. My second halyard is a kevlar-core line which runs out of the starboard masthead sheave and then straight down about 4 inches and through a Schaefer halyard restrainer. The restrainer prevents it from wrapping around the forestay when furling, by separating the halyard from the axis of the forestay extrusion. However, the presence of the halyard restrainer prevents this particular line from being able to achieve a properly tensioned full hoist with the racing genoa. Therefore, this second halyard is reserved for the cruising genoa and for implementing headsail changes while racing.
Marcus from Carriden
Mk III, Hull #847
Oakville, Ontario
Marcus Opitz,
Formerly from Carriden, Mk III, Hull #847,
now skippering "Everdina," a 1975 Ontario 32
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Thanks Marcus for the details. I agree with the sail plan 153%, 130%, 100% and storm. I will likely go for Dacron… given the price of laminated sails.
As for the hallyards, I have two for the spinnaker but only one for the jib. I don't know about a second groove for the jib but that may be a difference between a Mark II and Mark III C&C 27.
I now have to get quotes and find the money, but this sail plan makes lots of sense.
There are no other C&C 27 to race with in my area and I envy the C&C27 fleet in the east! In our division Mystery is starting to get competitive but I want to exploit the full potential of this boat in PHRF. The recent good race results are due to (in addition to a more experienced crew and skipper!) mainly a new code 5 full batten main, a Martec folding prop and also the fact that we have upgraded from white sail to the spinnaker division. My pointing and upwind speed are not that great and I hope that a new 153% genoa will improve things (current one is a 1980 Northsail… not all that new).
Stéphane, Mystery Mrk II, Hull #59, Victoria BC
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Do you have inboard tracks yet? These can make a real difference with pointing. Carriden's tracks run from right aft, by the primary winches, all the way forward to just aft of, and slightly outboard of, the centre chainplate. They pass inboard of the aft chainplate and are 8 ft long, anchored from below with oversize fender washers which have been inset through the headliner right to the underside of the deck itself. And yes, it was a long tedious, dusty and icky job. Especially potting the holes (drill and fill) in the deck for each bolt. However, it has made a significant improvement in pointing, especially with the No. 2 and the working jib. My track layout most resembles that of Yogi Bear in the Black Arts section, which you can see at
http://www.cc27association.com/fixes/decktracks/source/trackyogi2.html
However, Carriden's tracks are completely straight and continue forward a few more inches than Yogi Bear's do.
The forestay extrusions for both the Harken and the Furlex are twin-groove extrusions, so that comes with the furling unit. Your masthead casting should at least have a spot for a second halyard sheave at the front edge, even if a sheave is not actually present. I actually have 2 genoa halyards and 2 spinnaker halyards, but that is overkill for anything short of serious racing.
You may not have the fleet out there, but you sure do have the location. My sister-in-law used to tease me by calling up on New Year's Day and telling me that she was sitting on her porch in Victoria and watching the sailboats go by. She is a cruel woman.
Marcus from Carriden
Mk III, Hull #847
Oakville, Ontario
Marcus Opitz,
Formerly from Carriden, Mk III, Hull #847,
now skippering "Everdina," a 1975 Ontario 32
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Hi Marcus,
Yes, I have tracks as Mystery was raced from day one. It has two tracks going inboard so that I can open or close the jib or move forward or aft the clew. I have a bock that can be moved from one position to another. I have a picture of it but do not know how to post it.
Stéphane
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