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Howdy all,
Some of you may remember my project to install a solent stay, tacked just aft of the existing forestay on our ketch. Project completed! Actually, the project was completed some time ago, but life circumstances and all, just got out to try it out yesterday. The solent works very well, enabling tight sheeting angles and significantly higher tacking angles than the regular 130% jenny. Our solent sail is 250 sq ft, reefable to 150 sq ft. The leach of the sail falls about a foot (or more) forward of the spreaders, so this sail can be sheeted pretty flat, but still maintaining nice shape. I move my traveler cars pretty far forward on the track with this sail to achieve optimum sail shape. Bottom line in yesterdays conditions: hard on the wind, with 14-15 knots apparent wind, was able to achieve 32-33 degrees apparent tacking angles with the sail still powered up with good flow. With this light wind, and no mizzen set, we were making 4.0-4.2 knots steadily. I’m very pleased with this set up, and it’s going to be nice next year crossing the Gulf and in the trades with the wind forward of the beam. More details on the engineering of this set up are in my previous posts on this same subject. I’ve attached a couple of photos…
David Tye
Blue Moon, #189Attachments:
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David,
What do 32-33 degrees apparent tacking angles equal in true wind angles? Or to ask it another way, from port tack to starboard tack (or vice versa), what is the total tacking angle?
Thanks,
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Very good question, Tor, and I figured you ask it. Sadly, my âtrue windâ feature on the MFD wasnât working the day I tried the Solent, nor did I have the âsnail trailâ feature turned onâ¦so I donât have an accurate answer. Or any answer, really. Butâ¦next time I have the sail up I will secure this data and report back! Sadly, just got back from an overnighter, and I have an engine overheat issue, so thatâs the next project. Hopefully something simpleâ¦
David
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David,
Perhaps there’s a non-electronic way to figure that out. Get the boat trimmed and moving well on one tack hard to windward and moving well under the Solent headsail, read the binnacle compass heading, tack, trim, and once she’s moving well again, take another compass reading. The difference, the number of compass degrees spanned tack to tack, is your true tacking angle, or at least that’s what I think of when I use the term. Does that make sense?
Silverheels’ little staysail can point much higher than her genoa because it sheets inside the shrouds. Unfortunately, it provides very little drive. I installed it more for the additional wind slot and to serve as a storm jib when reefed. Your Solent sounds like a genuine remedy for the 424’s lackluster pointing ability and I’m curious to know the extent of the improvement in terms I can relate to. So I’d love to learn what compass headings you achieve, tack to tack, if you get a chance to check that out sometime.
Thanks,
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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I certainly will, Tor. But the tacking angle may not tell the whole story due to the crab angle, leeway, that we make. Thatâs why Iâd like to look at the GPS snail trail, and even throw a protractor over the screen to approximate true degrees made good to windward. I think that now, with the genoa, and just eyeballing the MFD screen, it looks to be about 100 degrees. Iâm hopeful that with the solent it will approach 90. I may be dreaming, but weâll seeâ¦
David
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The tacking angle should be the same with either GPS or compass headings (excepting any significant compass deviation differences between the 2 headings).
Greg LongS/V PaperbirdPearson 422Author, The New Game Changers: Driving Performance by Focusing on What Matters443.995.5551——————————-But if not⦠-
Thanks, David. Yes, I realize leeway (and current and a couple of other things) will affect your COG. I’m just hoping to compare apples to apples – well, genoas to Solents – by narrowing it down to one factor, the rig’s highest sailing (not pinching) angle to the true wind. I think the binnacle compass will tell you that, providing a fairly pure comparison of the two headsails. In fact, since 424’s point a bit better or worse according to their particular sails, rig tuning, etc., it would be extra revealing if you also take compass readings sometime when tacking with the genoa, to measure just how much better (assuming it is better) the Solent sail points than the jenny. I guess that’s what I’m most hoping to find out, how much difference it makes on a 424. (Is your Solent headsail sheeted inside the shrouds?)
I appreciate your feedback. I’ve never sailed a Solent rig, but am wide open to learn a new trick.
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Actually, they won’t be the same. The GPS readings will include currents and leeway, which may change the angle dramatically. You’re right about the compass deviation, though, if the compass hasn’t been swung and a deviation card worked up. Nevertheless, I believe that’s the reading that will best reveal how the Solent headsail compares to the genoa for pointing ability. Any compass deviation will be about the same for both sails (if the test is done beating into the same wind direction), so in the end you should still be able to determine that one sail points X-degrees higher than the other, which is what I’d like to find out.
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Rich, the point of the comparison I was requesting is to find out where the bow is pointed relative to the true wind, not the direction the boat is moving or even the angle to the apparent wind, which will change with boat speed.
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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