tophatyachts.com

Greetings Hatters,

I have a big headsail on a furler that works fine in moderate conditions. But when hit by the gusts that tumble down from the hills around the coast here in The Channel things get interesting.

If I furl it the sail does not set very well and it feels like the centre of effort is too high and forward for efficient sailing. I am thinking about setting up an inner forestay and hanking on a storm sail. The idea is to bring the centre of effort low and central and to allow a better slot between the mainsail and storm sail.

Has anyone got any experience with this?

All opinions welcome. I'll post some images later to demonstrate what I mean.
Thanks in advance

tom
Yogamada MK1
Kettering
Tasmania

Tom,

I think this is called a Baby Stay, normally found on a cutter, and the only way it works on a yacht without a bowsprit is to have it as a removable one.
That means you need a highfield lever fitting at the foredeck so that you can move the stay back to the mast while using your normal jib arrangement.

You may need extra shrouds and runners and maybe an extra crosstree otherwise the load may bend your mast fatally.

You may have to have the runners on Highfield levers also to prevent clashing with the boom during a jibe.

This subject was discussed at length in a previous post [I haven't looked for it!] and I think the conculsion at that time was "too bloody hard!"

PS I'm working on your other problem Tom.

Simpler solution is to remove the furler and go back to hanked on headsails. The original sail plans are on the gallery and you can see how low the no3 and no4 are compared to a partially rolled large furling headsail. Or get a no3 for your furler.

Removable solent stay would be better than a baby stay on a Top Hat because you wouldn't need running backstays but I still think it would be more trouble than it would be worth for a 25 ft yacht.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi Tom,
We just had all our standing rigging replaced as we had no idea as to how old it was. indications are that it was the original rig. At this time we decided to refit the inner forestay which had been removed. Why? because the original plan set had it, and we don't know enough to too say why it should not be their. I am sure there are some old salt's who are cringing at our decision but as a newbee I will rather have it there than not. Anyway, we also have a large furler installed and a gail sail to for heavy weather, so this thread is of interest to us. I don't want to be fighting with removing the furler in heavy weather, so we chose the gail sail. If a storm sail hanked to the inner forestay will work, I hope the old salt's will be able to tell.

The only reason the inner forestay was on the original Top Hat was they didn't have front lowers ,and they had a double spreader rig, and had different sail combinations back in the the days when they were J.O.G boats

Cheers Bear

Bear,
My understanding is that single lowers rigs ( Bluebird, Endeavour, Currawong, etc) are not designed to take a sail on the short lower forstay which ends at the spreaders to support the mast. Is that right or have you seen this type of lower forstay used to shank on a small sail?

Regards,
Mark

Thanks Bear,
That explains why the inner fore stay was removed on our rig. Wonder why my rigger didn't know that? Ahh, the wisdom of the old salt's s shines through again.
Dave

Thanks all for the advice.

Seems to me that the way to go is get a smaller headsail that can be swapped with the existing sail on the furler.

Next question is then what size is suitable; or even do I need a 'normal' headsail and a storm headsail in order to cover all eventualities?

I'll post a request for second-hand sails on the appropriate bit of the message board.

tom

What wind strength do you sail in Tom?

I use a no2 on the furler up to 15-18 knots but I put a reef the main at 15 knots and a double reef after 20 knots. When the wind gets to 18-20 knots I wind the headsail into a working jib size ( ie same size as as the fortriangle). If there are more than the occasional gust over 25 knots I wind a little more onto the furler. My furler however winds the centre of the sail in a turn before the ends so the sail sets OK.

I have just bought a new No2 with luff foam which should improve the shape of the furled sail further but have yet to try it furled in a blow.

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Tom
I am moored in Dover so sail in the same waters as you. I have a number 2 on the furler, I always put two reefs in the main before rolling any headsail away. My number 2 is fairly flat so can be furled to number 3 size without losing too much shape which is fine for 40 knots in sheltered waters.