I have had a season of sailing with my re-cut Original Equipment staysail and have made the following observations:
In winds of 6 to 12 mph, windward performance is greatly improved over sailing as a cat rigged boat.
In winds of 2 to 5 mph the 4oz Dacron is too heavy to fill properly and the sail is almost useless.
The existing geometry of the sail has the clew considerable higher than the tack.
I am now more determined to get a new light weight tri-radial staysail for light air racing. I am considering DPL82 Polymax 82 (2.1 oz.) from Challenge Sailcloth. I know I am asking a lot but I want the sail to preform equally well in 1 knot and in 10 knots of wind. That is to say, I want it to fill easily in a drifter and hold it shape in the top end of the range. Remember that the F21 is over powered with a staysail up in winds over 12 mph (helm can be hard over to windward and the bow will still fall off to leeward).
Here are my questions:
a) How will adjusting the foot and leech lengths so that the foot is more parallel to the deck affect performance?
b) As long as the sq-ft measurement is the same or less than the class specs, will I encounter a PHRF penalty for the leech being longer than the class maximum?
Your sailmaker can help you make this decision and can provide a sail with the proper dimensions regardless of where you want the clew. He/she should be willing to come sail the boat to help with the decision. Also ask for someone from the loft to sail with you after you receive the sail to explain how to trim it for maximum effect.
Keeping the clew close to the deck prevents the wind from passing between the sail and the deck and is known as the “end plate effect”. This is why modern airliners have winglets on the ends of the main wings, more efficient. A drawback is that any waves taken over the bow have a higher probability of damaging the jib. Also note that as the clew of the jib gets closer to the deck, the precise location of the lead block becomes more critical to the sail shape. This means that the jib will dictate where the lead block is placed not the location of your track.
To measure the LP, lay the sail out flat. The place the “dumb” end of the tape measure on the outside corner of the clew and slowly slide the tape up and down the luff until you can read the smallest dimension.
I bought a new staysail this summer from Schuur Sails out of Pensacola. Great price and great service!
Since adding a second forward halyard (dedicated to the spinnaker) I am using the original spinnaker halyard for my jib/staysail on a roller furler to make single handed racing easier. The tack of the jib is attached to an eye-bolt through the bow pulpit cross bar to leave the triangle open for launching the spinnaker. This necessitated changing the size and shape of the sail as the J measurement is now only 3’ 9" on my boat. The new sail measures 19’ on the luff; 10’ on the foot and 19’ 6" on the leech.
My new tri-radial staysail is made of Dimension-Polyant CZ5 laminate weighing just 1.75 smoz and performs exceedingly well in winds of 3 to 10 mph. It will fill with just 1 mph of wind where my old 4 smoz OEM staysail would not fill in any winds under 5 mph. Steering balance and pointing are much improved as well.
In retrospect I should have mounted the new block about 6" higher on the mast to avoid tangling the spinnaker halyard in the staysail when furling the staysail. What I must do with the present arrangement is to furl the staysail after setting the spinnaker and to unfurl it prior to retrieving the spinnaker. I have, in light air sailed on a beam reach with both set like my boat was a cutter.
I don’t have any of the boat under sail with the new arrangement.
I will check with the sailing club to see if anybody snapped some during the Great River Race 3 weeks ago.
