F18 Jib

Guys I'm looking for a used F18 jib sail to complete my H18 conversion to self-tacking. I'm sure many of you are looking at switching to battened jibs for '07 and won't need those furling jibs any longer. Would love to get a pentax sail but dacron would be fine. This experiment may not be worthwhile so I hate to buy a new jib to test. Help me out!

I don't have a jib for ou but I do have a question. Where can I find out more about your experiment of having a self tacking jib for the H18. I can't bring my H18 about without back-winding the jib, so i am keen to hear more about this self tacking thing. If you don't want to clutter up the forum you can email me directly: my address is "my forum name" "haaattt" rogersdotcom (I hope that was not to crytic for you but more cryptic then the web crawlers can figure out.

Thanks,
Adrio

Most of the F boats now use self-tackers. If you are backwinding your boat to tack then it won't help you at all. First work on your technique, I only backwind in high seas when not racing. Backwinding is very slow. In most case if you are having a turning problem it is in your sheeting. The sails should be brought in to close hauled as you turn. Many sailors don't adjust their sails properly while turning. Installing a self-tacking system on a H18 has never been done as far as I can tell. It requires a lot of modifications to the boat and the unit itself. Take a look at the Tiger set-up and you will see what I'm trying to accomplish. The standard H18 jib can never self-tack as it is truely a gunnoa and not a jib, reaches beyond the mast. I will be removing the current jib blocks and tracks and it will all be controlled from the front crossbar. Sheeting angles are the next major concern, both for the jib and the spin. Mast rake effects the angle so test,test,test. Without a jib I'm kind of stuck now, at least its cold weather.

I do have an old Tiger jib I could get rid of cheap. It is smoke color Pentex. I'm located in Florida.

Tigeroxj,
I think I found one thru Rick Harper. Thanks for your reply. Haven't been able to get Rick to respond again in the recent past but he's says he has two sails for $200 each. I'm in NC, not too far above you. Its much cooler here. Did you participate in the steeplechase?
Thanks again