Jib and staysail vs genoa? What to choose?

[s/v Jedi]

Reefing the mizzen is the last thing I want to do for light weather upwind sailing. I will give up 10-20% speed with the first reef.

Hoisting a mizzen staysail is a better plan and is done by others but only with little effect I think.

Our boat sails like it’s on rails. There’s a video where Dashew is showing his rig to Brian Toss and at some point Brian asks Steve who is steering the boat…. forgot to switch on the autopilot

Rudder balance: heel is the biggest factor because it changes the underwater hull shape to an asymmetrical shape which turns the boat into the wind.

I have still not decided but I’m tempted to do some testing with what I have, experimenting with sheet position, much lighter sheets etc. as well as checking out the staysail again.
There’s much to say for a North 3D light jib similar in size to what we have but better shaped and because of low weight better in light weather.

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I am checking on my sail inventory for light weather conditions. The difficulty is for upwind sailing.

We have a cutter-rigged ketch with a fixed cutter stay.

On the forestay we have a roller furling 105% jib, which is heavy duty but tri-radial cut from Hydranet material. It’s pretty nice.

On the cutterstay we can hoist a staysail which is meant for heavy weather. I once tested it and found you need a minimum of 25kts wind before using it instead of the roller furling jib.

For main and mizzen we have large roach, full batten sails which work well for upwind, but of course it’s a ketch so performance is less than a sloop. We estimate our upwind performance about equal to a Beneteau First 47 at 15kts wind.

My first action point is to replace my genoa sheets with 10mm light weather sheets. Now I’m thinking what else we can do in the fore triangle: buy a light weather staysail or a larger roller furling genoa?

Both choices have issues. We will probably spend lots of time in light weather conditions so if a staysail would be chosen, I would probably want a roller furler for it. For a larger genoa, we would have to take down the jib and replace it with the genoa, so no quick sail plan change.

As I have zero experience with cutters, cutter-sloops etc., I also have no clue on what is the best path forward or if a staysail even works with a 105% jib on the forestay instead of a yankee etc.?

Help!

If you plan on offshore cruising as your main use, a cutter rigging is your best choice as it gives you a good selection of sail area on long tacks (could be days...). Better if the cutter sail is also on a furler.

For shorter day sailing/coastal, a genoa without an cutter stay would be easier for tacking as otherwise you'll need to furl the headsail for tacking if a cutter stay is in place.

Personally, on my cutter rigged, on short daysailing, I rarely use the genoa (155%) and use only the oversized cutter sail as the only headsail. It isn't ideal for light winds but very easy to handle especially with two people on board.