Snuffable Genoa

Before you say this guy done lost his mind, hear me out.

I am out sailing today using AI amas instead of myTI amas on my AI testing sails. My goal was to over power the boat and test my theory that an island with an oversized headsail can be nicely throttled up or down by simply furling or relaxing/tensioning the main a bit. And yes, it seems to be working great in today's higher winds. With fully tensioned saILs, I felt like I was about to capsize but a small ajustment in the main and I can fine tune the heeling. Since the jib by itself is not a problem in high winds, the range of winds that I can use a genoa should be wide. Wide enough that when the winds are too much, snuffing and using the main alone should be all the power you would want.

Since I'm not getting a noticable Lee helm with either the jib or the Hobie spinn when over powered, I would not expect a genoa to be any different.

So now I am convinced that a genoa (130%) may be an ideal sail for the AI and maybe the TI too as long as a rear stay is employed for each. A genoa should offer a wider range of power than my jib does. If made with Code 0 material and snuffing patches, it should work fine in the Hobie snuffer.

Unless one of you more experienced sailors point out a flaw in my plans, I think I'm going ahead with this.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

dont get too aggressive with this. i received this from matt a couple months ago when i asked about the jib project:

It was determined that the stress on the hull was too much, so the project was shelved in lieu of the spinnakers. One of the engineers actually folded a bow.

Thanks mjfxd. I will reconsider. Wonder why a 130 genoa upwind. would be more side pressure than the spin on a beam reach?

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

Mjfxd, I misread, this was folding a bow, not breaking a mast. Was this a TI or AI? I've been using a jib for a couple years now without issues on an AI. For me, the bow is not as big a concern as the mast and receiver. But the success of the bigger spin on a beam reach makes me think I can make a genoa work as long as I use good judgement trimming and choice of sail based on winds.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

So thinking this through, I understand the added force of the genoa would have on the bow but with a jib, I know that I would pull the genoa down and switch to jib long before that kind of force would be taking place. At least I think I would. I may consider bow reinforcement as well. Think I'll still move forward with caution here.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

So Greg, are you going to be the first one to fit multiple snuffer tubes to an Island? With the one single halyard/backstay, you could have snuffers for jib, genoa and spinnaker, lined up like ducks in a row.

This is only half frivolous....

I must say, I absolutely LOVE my Hobie spinnaker, not just for the enhanced sailing options, but for the wonderful efficiency of the sail handling mechanism.

Tony

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

I wanted to do that in the worst way Tony but, I can't imagine the web of lines required to have each ready to go at any time. I elected instead to put quick release hardware at each tip of the sail and just use a figure 8 at the snuffing pocket. I can easily change out sails while on the water and this way I don't add any lines for the additional sails. I have settled into this being my favorite rigging yet.

Don't you find that spinnaker rigging next to perfect? It makes moving the sail up, down, left, right, wherever you want a breeze. Seems hard to improve upon.

Greg

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

I have added a stainless steel O-ring to the head of my spinnaker, and a snap-shackle to the halyard, but for slightly different reasons... I also have a separate length of line with a snap-shackle at the bottom and a loop at the top. I fit this in as an extension to the halyard when raising or lowering the mast, as there is nothing worse than lifting the mast, and just when you want to move the base over the deck and in the step, and a tight halyard/backstay puts downward pressure on the mast. I nearly dropped it when it happened.

But it got me thinking that if each sail had SS O-rings on each corner, and each line (head, tack and clew) had a snap-shackle, you could pretty easily transfer the same lines to each sail.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker