Bronze sail hank sizing

[SSgtPitt]

Grant, yeah, pretty much everything runs back to the cockpit or right next to it. The staysail halyard is the only thing i have go forward to mess with.
Question- If put a downhaul on the staysail, don't I still need reef points? And if I drop it on the deck, I can't just leave it there, it could act as a parachute if the wind got under it ?
The setup is currently self tending for the most part. I want this to be my most bullet proof system. The boom furler can jamb as well as the jib furler so I don't want the KISS setup on this one.

[gjordan]

Your halyards are not the way I would set them up (but we all have opinions, and mine is just another) for ease of handling or simplicity. Having the halyard for a roller jib in the cockpit means you drop the jib out of its foil while you are still in the cockpit and then have to go forward to catch most of the sail that has blown over the side. Since one of the purposes of a roller jib is far fewer jib changes, it makes no sense to me to have the jib halyard in the cockpit when you need to be on the fore deck to not loose the sail over the side. Plus, why clutter the cockpit? I prefer to work the main reefing from the mast (again just my choice) . I am trying out single line reefing and main halyard to the cockpit on my latest boat and I am completely un-impressed. The staysail halyard and downhaul line make sense to me to come to the cockpit since you can drop or raise a hanked on staysail without leaving the cockpit and still not have large amounts of line in the cockpit. If you decide to drop it for a few hours, the downhaul and a tight sheet will keep the sail from flogging very much. If you think it will be many hours before you raise it again, you might decide to go forward and put a couple of lashings. If you decide to reef the staysail, it is secure down at the deck and you can have (I certainly would) a second tack wire and shackle to go to the reef cringle without disconnecting anything else, and an easy way to bring the clew reef cringle down to the boom. You would have to have your sailmaker work out the geometry for the reef points and the length of the jack line, but it can be done. A roller reefing staysail is nice, but if you need to move down to a storm staysail you are in the situation of a sail coming out of a foil in horrible conditions and trying to feed a sail into a foil in horrible conditions. I think that a staysail should be on as simple and reliable system as possible. Again this is just my opinion based on about 30,000 miles of which many were deep water passages. there are other people that will swear by other systems, and they have probably worked well for them so you get to sort it out in your mind. Good sailing. ____Grant.

[Schooner Chandlery]

On the staysail the downhaul tight and sheet tight will keep it from flogging yes. We do that with our hanked on jib in rough sea conditions because it's on an 11ft bowsprit and nobody wants to go out there to tie it into the netting.

If you plan to use your hanked on staysail as a storm sail get the sew-on type hanks rather than the crimp on ones depicted in the beginning of the thread. A little heavy weather whip -not even flogging- and you'll be seeing those press on hanks coming off the sail. You could alternatively use small bronze shackles instead of hanks to keep them on both sail and stay.


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[SSgtPitt]

Originally Posted by Schooner Chandlery

You could alternatively use small bronze shackles instead of hanks to keep them on both sail and stay.

Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

That's a great idea! I'm buying those now. Thanks for the tip.

[Schooner Chandlery]

Yes, it is a good idea. We keep meaning to get a supplier of bronze shackles into Schooner Chandlery but haven't done so yet...note to self...