Simon Greenslade was one of the first to try out the new improved sail rig, and he sent us these comments:
The increased sail area provided by the ‘roller-reef’ genoa, the mainsail (with ‘inbuilt’ top sail) and larger mizzen, allowed us to make good pace in the wind range Force 1 to 3. A great improvement!
We found in light winds the main sail batten was a bit heavy and didn’t flip over on one of the tacks, however on broad reaches and runs the thick batten helped the sail shape. It might be worth trying a mid-weight batten? We also found in the F1 to F3 wind range we got a diagonal crease in the lower two thirds of the mainsail. This could be eliminated by ensuring the main was fully hoisted, the extra cringle at the tack was tied tight to the main tack cringle/mast and also the downhaul had to be tied down fairly tight.
We found the best position for the mainsheet traveller was about halfway out.
Once the wind increases above F3 (often with very little warning!) we found the best thing was to do was to quickly lower the whole mainsail (rather than reef the topsail and mizzen) and lash the main to the mast. In F4 the boat is well balanced with just the genoa and mizzen. If it gets up even more roller-reef the genoa and brail/reef the mizzen – any more wind then drop both and motor!
There is a choice of two cleating positions for the Genoa. In light and medium winds we found the aft position better, but more difficult for the crew to access, so we reverted to the front position.
