THE JIB SET

As opposed to the JET SET--which in a sailboat, you aren't! And lately we aren't even in the JIB SET class. Sailing has become more a motor boat world for us, with a lack of wind unusual for this time of year in Thailand. But jibs we have, and the wind will come back--eventually.

SUNFLOWER has five jibs. There are 3 roller furling jibs: a Giant Genoa, an all purpose Working Jib, and a Yankee. We have also have 2 hank-on jibs, a Staysail, and a Storm Jib.

Al and I made the Giant Genoa (6.5 oz) with the help of a sailmaker friend way back in 1978. The GG is really really big, and we seldom use it. Certainly not if you know you are going to have to do much tacking. Dragging that big beast through the slot between headstay and staysaill stay on a tack is brutal. And the GG doesn't really fit comfortably using the pole for downwind either--just too big. We do roll it up some for use on the pole however. You know, I can't even remember the last time we used the GG. So why do we have it? Seemed a good idea at the time, and it is there as an option for the right conditions.

The Yankee (6.5 oz) is a dynamite sail for going to weather. It is quite high cut so it works admirably in combination with the Staysail. The Yankee, Staysail, Main combination gives us a really powerful drive. It also provides a good variety of sail combinations for when the wind and seas start building. Because the Yankee is high cut, it doesn't work all that well with the pole either. It also doesn't have sun protection for leaving it furled on the headstay. So it's a bit of a pain to always put it on and take it down. It's more than 20 years old now, and getting tired. However, if we have any major ocean passages in the future, we will retire it and get a new one.

The Working Jib (7.3 oz) is our general all purpose headsail. We got it in 1990 when we installed our ProFurl furling system. Al has never been happy with the cut. We ordered it by mail from the same people who built our original sails; they had our sail plan. We sent them the dimensions, got the quote, placed our order, and thought all was well. We overlooked the fact that they kept referring to this sail as a “yankee jib.” So it ended up with a miter cut like our Yankee jib. The dimensions are just fine, and it works well with the pole.

A couple of years ago we had 12 inches cut off the foot of the sail. It had stretched badly and would no longer fit on the furling gear properly. The WJ has acrylic sun shield sewn on the leach and the foot so we can leave it furled on the headstay. Very convenient, and saves storage space below. We would definitely look at alternatives to using such heavy sun protection when we replace that sail however, as we feel the weight of that material destroys the shape of the leach.

The WJ has been the work horse of our jib set. Because of the problems we have had with it as a mail order product (and I haven't mentioned other avenues of displeasure) we would certainly think twice about doing that again. Mail order would be fine if you have a stock boat, with a well known sail plan. But I think when we replace this sail we will have the sailmaker come to the boat to make the measurements, look at our pole and the rest of the rig, and evaluate our needs.

Our Staysail (6.5 oz) is another sail we've had over 20 years. It has really been a work horse, especially paired with the Yankee as mentioned above. We haven't tended to use it much however since we installed the ProFurl gear and got the furling Working Jib. Those two sails have never developed a rapport of togetherness. Even using the Staysail in combo with the WJ in ideal conditions, it is hard to see that boat speed or balance improves.

The Storm Jib (8 oz). Well, obvious I guess what we do with it. It is one of our ORIGINAL SAILS--27 years old! It hanks quite neatly onto the staysail stay. But mostly it lives in its bag in the forepeak. I guess we should be thankful that the weather on our passages has been good enough not to have had to use it much. Sails will last forever if you don't use them! :-)