As I have thinking about mast extensions I noticed for the first time today that the sail peak is adjustable via the strap so that the luff can be reduced about 400mm.This got me to thinking why not instal reeling points in the sail? All that would be required are eyelets at the luff and the corresponding section of the leech 400 mm up the sail.On my sail that point would correspond with the bottom batten.I estimate that the sail area would be reduced by about .75 metre.That might make sailing today (20-30 knots ) a bit more manageable.Has anyone tried this?
That top adjuster(the bit that sits on top of the mast is called a turban)allows the sail to be raised to catch higher wind(if for instance you have trees/bushes around a small sailing venue then the cleaner air is higher from the ground) gusting increases the chance of instability(tipping over). That said reefing works for strong wind though the "reef" can interfere with the sail swapping to the other side of the boom. I have always wondered if it was possible to just add a bottom section with velcro or lacing to a sail added with a mast extension for light winds, instead of having a whole extra sail.
Or how about a bowsprit and foresail
That's a good point TP1. Because the bottom of the sail is rather flat it could carry an extra sq metre or two attached by Velcro or Zippers. A few different area panels could be utilised to create a selection of sails. It was said it before...."you are more than a pretty face!" !!
Its been done before:
Look up the MultiSail here: www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18724
Here's a pic of a 'multi-sail' as mentioned above. The dark line above the foot of the sail is a heavy duty plastic zipper.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Construction/sail-cutting-challenge/
The idea is sound, and there are other ways of reefing, too, including a simpler roll-up design: see the pic in the article below.
www.spinnaker-sailing.com/online-courses/lesson-2/reefing-mainsail
Enjoy
The 20-30 knot wind on Sunday was too much for my 4.5 m sail.This begs the question: what size sails suit (hard if you say that fast) different wind speeds?I could find this out through trial and accident but I'd prefer not to.
That's a bit hard to answer as different strokes suit different folks but my quiver of mini sails range from 3.6 sqM to 5.25sq M
all of them cut down windsurf sails
I think the largest standard Blokart sail is 5.5 sqM not sure what the smallest one is
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
Thanks Hiko.When would you use your smallest sail?
I have only used it for kids Could possibly use it though in very strong storm winds
I have used one of 3.8 a bit
reefing works very well, simply sew one into the sail. make sure you reinforce appropriately. I buid reefs into any sails that are soft enough. until ben and bryans new mini record in sept, our local mini record was 105.1 with a reefed sail
note reef line just below orang patch on on luff
