Okay, I'll throw down on this one since it's one of my favorite discussions.

Michael, I liked your response: " We also have a 135% genoa which (shock,
gasp) we have never used."

Being as our boat fund is all but dried up and has been since we got into
this relationship, we sail old school - no furling, no jenny, no spanker,
reacher, screacher, blooper, scooper...you get the picture.

Nope, just the Yankee and Staysail and I have to say, I really love this
combination.

When I first bought the boat, I went through all the gyrations to get quotes
on all new sails, roller furling and all that. In fact, I actually ordered a
profurl for the headstay, but I wasn't around when it was shipped and the
guy shipped it C.O.D. It went back and the fund window closed shortly after
that.

I lamented it for a while and continued to dream about big, white headsails
billowing as we sailed on a broad reach (don't all sailing dreams involve a
broad reach and billowing sails?).

Of course, for the first 2 years, we never sailed the boat so I had no idea
what a cutter rig was like. Then, we chartered a Baba 30 out of Anacortes
(Gretel II). This boat was rigged with a 135 and full battened main. All the
halyards were led aft as well.

We weren't impressed. Tacking was a pain (as most of you have pointed out).
To tack, we would roll up the jib enough so it would pass through the slot
without a problem. Also, with all the halyards and corresponding drag
associated with the full battens (no cars), it was nearly impossible to
raise the sails single handed.

We sailed with the staysail, but that had little/no effect with the 135. It
just looked cool. Fact is, we didn't sail much and learned that the San
Juans dictate their own sailing destinations for you, not the other way
around.

When we finally got our vessel on the water and sailed with the correct
cutter rig (yankee/staysail), we were instantly amazed at how well this
combination works. We typically sail in wind anywhere from 10 to 20 knots.
We have found that these two sails make it easy to adjust for varying
conditions. Since they are small, they are easy to wrestle to the deck and
secure. Sailing with the staysail is a snap and we use it exclusively (with
the main) about half the time. The only qualm with this setup is downwind.
These sails are basically useless without poles. Our only option is the main
on a preventer and that has worked when the winds are 10kts or more.

So, now my dream sail set is Yankee/Staysail with a large light air sail
using an ATN Tacker-type device. I do like the idea of putting our headsails
on roller furling. The main reason for that is to get more leisure time. We
bag the sails on the foredeck and it takes at least a half hour to get
everything put away.

Bottom line for us (all of this is subjective), the yankee/staysail combo is
the way to go. In 95% of the conditions we sail in, we can keep up with any
other cruiser out there.

Rick Beddoe
s/v Soņadora, 1978 Baba 30
Minneapolis, MN
http://sail2live.com

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Received on Fri Dec 15 08:16:43 2006