Are twin headsails on a 43 cat a good idea.

[robert sailor]

We are in a similar age group so I know where your coming from. Even with the 2 of us much of our sailing is akin to single handing as the off watch is usually asleep although at night it's our rule to wake the other person up if changing sails.
Personally I'd feel comfortable flying twins but I'd only do it on long passages, say several days as for shorter sails at our age it's not worth the trouble. A main and headsail is still just fine for getting where your going. By the way on monos I also kept the main sail up, deeply reefed and sheet brought in tight as a board on the center line. On a mono this really reduced the rolling from building up to crazy amounts plus it also allowed you to change your point of sail and then ease out the main and kill your headsails behind it.
Again I think if I were you I'd just set myself up with white sails, put the chute away and accept lower boat speeds in lighter air. Sounds like that's how your set up now. Make sure to rig a cleat or clutch to your curling line so it can never get out again.
Enjoy your sailing, lovely part of the world your sailing in.

[Popeye46]

Thank you for your response Robert, I’m at home in Ballina after 4 months sailing to different ports down south. Licking my wounds at the moment, glad skin patches up for free.
The headsail sheet came off because the eyelet which connects the sheet to the headsail came away from the headsail. The sail is 14 years old however the eyelet is exposed to UV continuously which may have weakened it. Another probable cause for the breakage was the electric winch, one of it’s uses was to sometimes pull the headsail down tight. I try to avoid using it for that however some of the crew I have had in the past just don’t realise the amount of pressure it can put onto the hardware.

I do agree with you I think I will perfect my existing system and forget about adding sails.

[Dulcesuenos]

Look up "Blue water runner head sail" it is a twin head sail setup that also attaches to itself to create one Genoa ?

[John_char]

If you’re ever down our way, Nelson Bay, give me a yell. Wifee and I are always ready for some cat sailing experience.

[Tin Tin]

If you mean a genoa attached to the cross beam on a furler and a code 0 or similar on a furler attached to a prodder, this works fine, can be run wing on wing with sheets set at aft pulleys, no need for mainsail DDW.


We have in the past run just the code 0 / gennaker by moving the furling drum off the prodder to the windward bow (with sail furled), easing the sheet and halyard, this makes the sail very square to the wind. A spinnaker would be preferable but when single handed the ability to furl is so much better, just less horsepower.


Gybing with gennaker is also easy, you can furl it and then winch it back out after the gybe, so no wraps around the inner forestay.

[Popeye46]

Originally Posted by John_char

If you’re ever down our way, Nelson Bay, give me a yell. Wifee and I are always ready for some cat sailing experience.

I spent about a month there over last christmas, lived there for 15 years before I moved to Ballina 14 years ago.had a charter boat down there for the 15 years I lived there. Small world.
Cheers

[Popeye46]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

If you mean a genoa attached to the cross beam on a furler and a code 0 or similar on a furler attached to a prodder, this works fine, can be run wing on wing with sheets set at aft pulleys, no need for mainsail DDW.


We have in the past run just the code 0 / gennaker by moving the furling drum off the prodder to the windward bow (with sail furled), easing the sheet and halyard, this makes the sail very square to the wind. A spinnaker would be preferable but when single handed the ability to furl is so much better, just less horsepower.


Gybing with gennaker is also easy, you can furl it and then winch it back out after the gybe, so no wraps around the inner forestay.

Yeah, that’s what I meant. The existing headsail/genoa which is on a furler attached to the cross beam amidships stays where it is.

Plan A was that I make up a prodder out of stainless or aluminium and get a rigger to check it and fit aforestay and furler to the prodder. My rig needs replacing so I’ll take the boat to boatworks and get David Lambourne to replace the rig and check the prodder. David designed and installed the rig back in 2006. I ‘ve done a rough costing on the prodder idea and even with me doing the prodder and the cost of a rigger to install a furler, forestay and then the sail, I reckon around $15000 plus.

After some advice from this forum, Plan B is to perfect the existing system. Presently I pole out the furling headsail when running down wind which works fine but I made the pole to fold up onto the mast and to miss the lower cross tree it had to be no more than 2.4 metres. The distance from the mast to the clew on the headsail with the whisker pole being level is 3.5m. I now plan to make the pole telescopic so that I can furl the sail without having to remove the pole.

CHEERS AND HAPPY DAYS SAILING