fusioneng wrote:
Easiest solution is to just pick up a hobie kayak sail, (It’s about the right size for an AI, but a tad small for the TI).
The bow padeye is strong enough. We had pvc roto furlers on all our kayak sails, and jibs, (simple to make, takes 15 minutes to make and $5 bucks in materials.
On ours we just removed the bungy from up the center of the mast and ran a rope up thru the center with clips at the top and bottom, (super simple).
You will need to add a mast topper so you can still furl the main. There are tons of really simple designs out there, It’s not at all difficult.
I prefer halyard lines to raise the jib. You shouldn’t need to worry about needing a rear stay line as long as you have a mast on the jib, (otherwise the jib just turns into a taco shell because of the floppy main mast).
Use the search function to find any of the hundred or so designs presented on the forum over the years. Try to keep it as simple as possible, (bypass the inspector gadget designs).
FE
So, if I understand correctly when you say have a mast on the jib, you have a rigid piece of material the jib is connected to and that "mast" is attached to the top of the main and at the bow padeye? I've found a jib from a sea skimmer, measures 43" at the base, 9'9'' at the leech and 10'6" at the luff. Adds roughly 25% more sail area (assuming my math is correct). Making this into a furler rig would be great. I would need to explore the mast topper (maybe make my own) - wanting to stay away from a back stay. I'm wanting to make the ease of getting into/out of the water as quick as possible a priority. I chose the AI for that purpose as I don't have big chunks of time to set up a sailboat (I've been sailing MC16 scows, which I love, but take too much time to trailer sail).
Paul