Thinking about getting a new sail
Posted: September 4th, 2013, 12:26 pm
Looking for some advice from Bill (again)
We are talking about a Supercat 15 Sloop, here
OK, I have an old stock Dacron Pinhead sail that I got from Aquarius years ago when I got my boat. The leech between the battens is starting to get a little loose and buzzes in big wind. That's pretty much my idea of a blown out sail. I use the MAX batten and I'm very happy with it. I also have fiberfoam battens instead of the tubular battens and I am very happy with them, too. I used them because I had them lying around and didn't have the tubular ones. They are less than half the weight of the Hobie style battens I was going to use.
I race the boat in open fleet usually against other single-handers. There are other larger double handers, but I really pay attention to the Hobie 16 one-ups. I also pleasure sail the boat on weekends.
I have an Aquarius factory self-tacking jib set up and factory cross-stitched Dacron self tacking jib.
I get away with not modifying my portsmouth number on the size of the jib because it is smaller than the factory sail, but I take a hit for single handing a SC15 sloop (still don't understand that one). I don't want to have to modify my number any more by getting a larger main. I think that if I get a square top, I would get too much grief from the other open class guys.
Whatever sail I get will be used all the time, racing or pleasure sailing.
I would like to use the MAX batten in any new sail that I get. I was resistant at first, but I really believe in it now.
And, of course, I contacted Tom about factory sails, but I think I had to many questions and I need to know what I want before I waste any of his time.
Questions:
1) would I benefit from getting a newer technology sail like tri-radial cut Pentex or some other laminate material? I don't think they last very long and would probably be happy with a Dacron square top sail.
2) Battens? Tubular or Fiberfoam?
3) Adjustable clew? I have an adjustable clew from a Nacra that I have been sitting on for a few years. It is a Harken track that is about 18 inches long and has a line that moves the car forward and aft. It replaces the clew plate. I currently use the middle hole in the clew plate in every condition, but thought it would be nice to be able to change it on the fly if needed. I really don't think I have ever had a problem with mast rotation in all wind ranges, except the very light choppy stuff. Moving the blocks to the rear of the clew would help some, but I also don't mind using my foot to keep the mast rotated. It might just be one more thing I could add to the boat to dork it up and make it more complicated than it needs to be...
We are talking about a Supercat 15 Sloop, here
OK, I have an old stock Dacron Pinhead sail that I got from Aquarius years ago when I got my boat. The leech between the battens is starting to get a little loose and buzzes in big wind. That's pretty much my idea of a blown out sail. I use the MAX batten and I'm very happy with it. I also have fiberfoam battens instead of the tubular battens and I am very happy with them, too. I used them because I had them lying around and didn't have the tubular ones. They are less than half the weight of the Hobie style battens I was going to use.
I race the boat in open fleet usually against other single-handers. There are other larger double handers, but I really pay attention to the Hobie 16 one-ups. I also pleasure sail the boat on weekends.
I have an Aquarius factory self-tacking jib set up and factory cross-stitched Dacron self tacking jib.
I get away with not modifying my portsmouth number on the size of the jib because it is smaller than the factory sail, but I take a hit for single handing a SC15 sloop (still don't understand that one). I don't want to have to modify my number any more by getting a larger main. I think that if I get a square top, I would get too much grief from the other open class guys.
Whatever sail I get will be used all the time, racing or pleasure sailing.
I would like to use the MAX batten in any new sail that I get. I was resistant at first, but I really believe in it now.
And, of course, I contacted Tom about factory sails, but I think I had to many questions and I need to know what I want before I waste any of his time.
Questions:
1) would I benefit from getting a newer technology sail like tri-radial cut Pentex or some other laminate material? I don't think they last very long and would probably be happy with a Dacron square top sail.
2) Battens? Tubular or Fiberfoam?
3) Adjustable clew? I have an adjustable clew from a Nacra that I have been sitting on for a few years. It is a Harken track that is about 18 inches long and has a line that moves the car forward and aft. It replaces the clew plate. I currently use the middle hole in the clew plate in every condition, but thought it would be nice to be able to change it on the fly if needed. I really don't think I have ever had a problem with mast rotation in all wind ranges, except the very light choppy stuff. Moving the blocks to the rear of the clew would help some, but I also don't mind using my foot to keep the mast rotated. It might just be one more thing I could add to the boat to dork it up and make it more complicated than it needs to be...