Twin Downwind Jybs

[glennp]

Hello all,

I am experimenting with setting up twin down wind jybs - actually two 120 Genoas and would like some advice on the largest and SMALLEST sail size that could effectively be used offshore to Hawaii.

My boat is a 1968 Aberg 30, a keel boat set up with a roller furling North 140 Genoa and a solent stay for the second sail. Iam having a Pinneapple 120 Genoa recut to fit my solent stay, and am adding one sort of deep reef point about 6' up the luff to have more sail combination flexibility in heavier air. I initially plan on taking one or two wraps on the roller furling to create equal size sails Port and stbd. I have twin spinnaker poles set up for a Twizzle rig, and have also experimented at the dock, flying 120 jenny on a pole, the 140 sheeted out to the end of the main boom. Both Methods seem to work great - at the dock, although the twizzle sprouts an ungodly assortment of outhauls and downhauls to stablize the poles!

Guess I should mention i also have a smallish 85% working jyb with short leach that can hank on to the Solent stay for a very small twin footprint, hence am curious about flying small twins in heavier air also. The Twizzle rig consists of twin spin poles with the inboard end connected to each other with a rope teather and downhauls so the poles are allowed to fly free of the mast - so no mast loading.

iam curious what anyone's experience are with sail size downwind in 15 to 25 kts with twin jibs? Also, generally, what is the smallest twin jyb arranngement ( heavest wind) one could fly this set up before just reefing down to working sails?

Thanks much!

Glenn Brooks
SV Dolce #318

 

[Libations Too]

Glenn,

I sail a Pearson 323. I added a solent stay for downwind twins (and storm jib) and sail downwind with either a 95 or a 120 jib on my roller furler and fly a hank-on 115 on my solent stay. My spinnaker pole goes to windward on the sheet to the roller furler jib and my hank-on jib sheet runs through a snatch block on the end of my boom.

Last time I sailed down the coast I hoisted my twins (the 95 and 115) in NW winds of about 12 knots just after turning south outside the Gate. I put two reefs in my main and used my Monitor windvane to steer. This allowed me to sail quite comfortably at 5-6 knots (hull speed for my boat is about 7 knots). When the wind reached about 17 knots apparent I doused the hank-on jib and maintained roughly the same speed with working sails. Later that night the wind continued to build and by the time it reached 20 apparent I had furled the jib to the end of its reef patches (which reduces jib area to something slightly larger than my storm jib); at about 25 knots apparent I furled the jib completely and sailed with my reefed main. I ended up in conditions with winds as high as the mid 30s apparent and the main alone, with two reefs, was plenty to keep me moving in the 5-7 knot range.

I admittedly was not racing but I was quite happy to have my hank-on down well before 25 knots apparent. The advantage of using the spinnaker pole on the roller furler jib is that one can furl the jib without taking the pole down, which is a great advantage in rough conditions.

I am unfamiliar with the twizzle rig so can't help with comments there.

I hope this helps.
Richard