genoa or yankee

[Simon Head]

I use the same furler as the Genoa/Yankee for the staysail.

This is attached to the deck using the same fitting that the staysail was originally attached to the deck.

There is plenty of room for this behind the forestay.

To avoid the staysail furler becoming wrapped in the forestay I use a forestay protector.

The reason I went for a furler on the staysail was to declutter the foredeck when mooring/dropping the anchor.

I have never had any regrets doing this- the furler uses the same bulls eye fittings etc for the downhaul with the original staysail.

Regards

Simon

[Michiel]

Hi all,

Having sailed now in the last 8 weeks for about 400 miles with the new Yankee,
I must say that I like it very much.

The main + points I have found are the following:

1) Much improved forward vision.
As I sail single handed for 95% of the time, I find this very handy,
and important.
2) Absolutely no more issues with the sail getting stuck behind the forestay
when tacking.
3) In stronger winds, the Yankee is easier handled.


The only - points I could think of are:

1) My Yankee does not un-furl as well as the Genoa did. It takes a bit of
'yanking' to un-furl the final 1-2 twists.
This may well be a problem with my furling setup though, and not a
common issue.
2) Loss of low-wind performance.
This is of coarse to be expected, as the m2 is much less.
As a matter of interest, has anyone any info on how much the difference
in speed is, in low winds?
Say, in a F3, are we talking 1kn, or more??

After this holiday of great sailing, I am tempted to buy a genoa again, to complement the sail plan. We do get plenty of days in the Med. with just the sea brease at F2-3, as well as the 'Mistral' at F5-6!
I will look at Dennis's setup at easily ex-changing the genoa and yankee, with the boat on a floating mooring.

Looking forward to any other experiences or comments.

[Michiel]

Dennis,

Having looked at the foto's of your setup on the bowsprit for easy exchanging genoa and yankee, I am wondering why you have opted for two double blocks.

Would a simple line, of similar diameter to the halyard, tied to the bottom of the furler and through a simple single block on the bowsprit end not also do the job?
The tensioning of the luff is done with the halyard, as normal.
This would also mean much less line needed, between furler, block and tying off point on bowsprit end.

Am I missing something here?

[Dennis]

Hello Michiel

I am glad you are happy with the performance of your yankee.
With regard to the performance compared with the genoa in lights airs, I find that there is not that much difference, certainly nothing like as much as 1 knot.

I use a double block arrangement at the end of the bowsprit because I need it to tension the halyard. I have my genoa/yankee halyard tied off at a cleat on the side of the tabernacle. This arrangement frees up one of the clutches which I now use for my lazy-jack/topping lift.
It also allows me to lower (or raise?) the mast in a controlled manner.

Cheers

Dennis

CC19 #100 Mary Ann

[Michiel]

Hi Dennis.

That makes sense now. Couldn't see the full arrangement on the foto's.

I tension my lazy jack in a simple jammer, next to the clutches, which works fine. That way all the lines are still accessible from the cockpit.

[David Hudson]

Hi Micheil

"1) My Yankee does not un-furl as well as the Genoa did. It takes a bit of
'yanking' to un-furl the final 1-2 twists."

That's why it's called a Yankee!

With apologies
DSavid

[Michiel]

RIGHT.......

(was wondering how long it would take, realised what I sent after posted!!)