| Author | Message | ||
     glen (Glen) Rating: N/A |
I have a storm jib with a wire luff which we have flown from the babystay fitting on the cabin with no main up just to get the boat more balanced and stable. It was probably blowing 40 that day and we had planned to go north on vacation so we went out of the marina just to see what it was like. We decided it was OK since we were going with the wind and put up the sail just to see what it would do. Not a bad ride. I'm not sure going into a 40 knot wind would be much fun. I, like Scott, have only got double reef points in the main. | ||
| Scott Corder (Pastcommodore) Rating: N/A |
While we have staysails for reaching, we use a storm jib in the headfoil in very heavy air. We jokingly refer to it as our #4.5 (which I suppose is more true than not). We have only used it a couple of times with a single reef in the main in races where the breeze climbs (and stays) over 30 knots. Quite frankly, it has performed great! We really cleaned up both times! We even shook the reef and kept the storm jib up as the breeze dropped and found the boat to be very controllable and fast. Upon returning to the dock, everyone wanted to know what the heck kind of handkerchief we were flying out on the race course. (it was one of those days where nobody had the courage to fly spinnakers). (my foredeck would occasionally yell "Apparent is down to 38!") I agree that the notion of an inner stay is probably just too cumbersome to be practical. Our experience with a storm jib further endorses that notion. A storm jib is pretty low-tech, requires no special rigging (at a time when special rigging is probably not safe or timely) and shouldn't cost much to have made. You could probably even buy something used. We only have double reefs in our mains, as the boom is only rigged for two reefs. I suppose if we were REALLY in trouble, we'd only fly the storm jib to keep the nose of the boat under control. | ||
| Jeff Roy (Jeffr) Rating: N/A |
I am interested in what people have had success using for storm tactics with the 9.1. Even if you are only going to do coastal cruising you should be prepared in case you get caught in a good blow. In general I think inner forestays with a staysail and a tripple reefed main is a good way to go in almost anything. I know others like to use storm trisails. Has anyone fitted the boat with an inner forstay? I think the aft end of the spinnaker pole down haul is a good place to anchor one, but the deck is not supported enough for sever loads. I think you would want to add a tie strap similar to the one for the baby stay. This would definitely effect the useability of the V-berth. What is every one else doing? |
