Posted by Mark (marked777772000@…>)
Call me crazy, but today I took an old roller furling jib from a 30
foot boat I had and attached it to my freedom 25. I like simplicity
so all those lines to my cockpit drive me crazy with the spinaker and
also it is only good downwind. So the sail had a heavy wire in it and
I attached it to my shotgun pole 3 feet in front of the bow. Its sail
area is roughly twice that of the small jib made for the boat…maybe
more. I found that the boat would not sail with it alone since it was
too far forward,however, when I hoisted the main this boat took off.
The balance of the rig was incredible and the boat flew. Very little
tension on the tiller and talk about pointing into the wind…she
pointed so well I was shocked. We all know that the cat rig does not
point well but with this setup, I have not been in a boat that
pointed better. Anybody have any opinions on this experiment? I
really dont overly care about racing and so the spinaker and rigging
are a pain for me…but to have a roller furling with head sail 3
feet in front of the boat has been a great discovery!! Opinions good
or bad please!!1 Thanks Mark