Setting up a Modern Cruiser

An experienced cruising couple decides to move aboard their Island Packet 40 full time and set up the "ideal sailboat."

After 7 years of producing SAILING QUARTERLY Video Magazine my wife and I were ready to retire, buy a boat and move aboard for full time cruising. While producing SAILING QUARTERLY we had chartered nearly 50 weeks and sailed on hundreds of yachts. Our projects included dozens of tests to find the best anchors, sail handling gear, power generation, etc., so we had very specific ideas on what we would install on our own boat. Over the years, dozens of people have sought our advice on outfitting, so as we outfitted our own boat we decided to produce a videotape to help others through the same process. Ultimately the project involved the participation of over 20 manufacturers including Island Packet, North Sails, Harken, Fortress, Edson, Simpson Lawrence and numerous others.

We selected the Island Packet 40 and the full tale of outfitting it (with sails, solar & wind power generation, radar, watermaker, electronics, anchors, refrigeration and much more) is the subject of a one hour videotape entitled outfitting the Ideal Sailboat. (The video will be available through the NORTH SAILS CATALOG). Our plans are to liveaboard full time and be capable of sailing offshore with just the two of us. We are both small, so ease of handling sailing gear was important. One reason we selected an Island Packet was its stable and versatile cutter rig. We specified a North inventory with a Full Batten main, 130% RF+genoa, and staysail, plus Harken roller furling on the genoa and staysail.

The Mainsail. For cruising sailors who often make downwind passages in light air, a full batten mainsail improves shape. reducesnoisy flogging, increases a sail's life and makes handling easier. Handling the main is usually the most difficult job on a shorthanded boat, but we have found several products that make life easier. First was a Harken Battcar™ system and second was a Dutchman sail flaking system. The Battcars replace sail slugs and eliminate friction from side loads so the sail goes up and down smoothly, even off the wind. The Dutchman gathers the sail on the boom like a Venetian blind. With the two systems, dropping the sail is a simple matter of releasing the halyard. The sail comes down easily and flakes itself on the boom. In most cases this is an appealing convenience, but in heavy weather it is a safety factor. The Battcars and Dutchman make reefing off the wind very manageable.

The Cutter Rig. A cutter provides many advantages to shorthanded sailing by reducing the size of your sails and providing more options for reefing in heavy winds. Island Packet cutters come with the staysail rigged on a self-tacking boom with roller furling. We have great fun short tacking into a harbor with no one touching any sheets! A staysail and reefed main can be an ideal combination in strong winds because it moves the center of effort inboard, which is preferable to a sloop's deeply reefed genoa far out on the bow. We decided to add a solid boom yang both for safety, and a whisker pole to wing out the genoa.

Heavy Weather Sail Plan. While many sailors install a third reef in the main for heavy weather, we prefer a small storm trysail to avoid blowing out the main in extreme conditions. Working with our sailmaker we were able to spec a sail size and luff length that allows us to rig the trysail so that its foot is clear of our stacked mainsail even with the Harken battcars. To aid in handling, North carefully sizes the trysail and uses 8 oz. cloth (instead of the typical 10 oz.) with considerable reinforcing at the stress areas.

Light Air Sail Plan. While storm tactics get everyone's attention, the truth is that cruisers spend most of their time in light winds and go to great lengths to plan downwind passages. For heavily laden liveaboard cruisers this can be a tough performance challenge. We had several discussions about spinnakers vs. gennakers on shorthanded boats. We did not want to deal with jibing a 17-foot spinnaker pole but felt strongly that we needed an easy way to fly more sail off the wind. My wife Dee was very skeptical about the two of us flying a Gennaker, but Bruce Nairn of North Sails Chesapeake explained the design differences in North's G3 Gennaker line, and their TRUE MAX Gennaker sounded like the answer. The head of the sail is cut extremely full to allow the sail to rotate out in front of the main so it erforms well far off of the wind. I convinced my wife that with the sail in a Snuffer we could handle it. The 3/4 oz. material meant either of us could lift up the companionway alone. I was still a bit nervous about the two of us flying the TrueMax, so I had lined up several crew for a test sail. As luck would have it they all bailed out and we were on our own. Heading about 120 degrees off the wind under main alone, we were only doing about 3.5 knots in 10 knots apparent. It took me only a few minutes to lay out the sail in its long Snuffer sleeve and rig the lines. Hoisting on the sleeve l could see there were no twists in the sail. I pulled the sleeve up and told Dee to trim the sheet. The sail went up beautifully and Dee shouted as our speed shot up to 7.5 knots.

"...the truth is that cruisers spend most of their time in light winds and go to great lengths to plan downwind passages."

We turned on the autopilot and tested points of sail from 70 degrees to 140 degrees apparent with no problems whatsoever. With careful trim we could fly the sail as high as 55 degrees and as low as 150 degrees. Much to my relief, Dee agreed it was no more difficult than our 130% genoa.

In our enthusiasm we failed to notice how quickly we were approaching shallow water and it was now time to jibe quickly. North recommends dousing with the Snuffer, then jibing and raising on the new tack, but we would be aground very soon, so we decided to go for the jibe. I threw off the sheet as Dee brought us through the turn. Everything went off without a hitch and we flew back on a speedy beam reach.

We found it easiest to douse the sail on the same side on which it had been set, so we jibed again and with Dee easing the sheet, I found it quite simple to douse the sail by pulling the Snuffer sleeve down. With the sheets eased way off, the fiberglass mouth of the sock simply slid down the sail leaving us with a completely contained nylon tube. I then lowered the tube to the deck and packed it into the sail bag which we stowed easily below.

There is no doubt in our minds that a cruising couple can handle a TrueMax at apparent wind angles from 70 degrees to 140 degrees in winds up to 15 knots.

As we head off to points South we are confident that we have sturdy, well built sails that will last a long time and will serve us well in a variety of sailing conditions.

ABOVE: North's TrueMax~ Gennaker~ features increased area and a "runner" mold optimized for deeper downwind angles. Bob Dollars photo

North's Snuffer encases the Gennaker in a Nylon sleeve during hoisting (above), dousing (above right), making handling easy and safe, even for shorthanded crews.

Many shorthanded crews prefer to douse a Gennaker with a Snuffer before jibing and resetting afterward. However, a Gennaker can also be jibed "on-thefly" by easing the sheet forward 1. and allowing the Gennaker clew to pass around the forestay 2. before trimming the new sheet on the new jibe. 3. Be sure to maintain enough tension on the "old sheet" to prevent the Gennaker from twisting or wrapping around the headstay.

Evolution of the TrueMax Gennaker

by Dave Hirsch, NMO Sail Designer

When J-Boats introduced the J/130 and J/105 I was asked to get involved in the development of a new asymmetric design. In order to race against PHRF boats using symmetric spinnakers, the standard asymmetric reaching spinnaker had to be redesigned to allow the boats to sail deeper enbles. The True Max gennakers a direct result of the early racing asymmetrics designed for the J/105, J/130 and melges 24.

The collaboration between various designers within North Sails is an example of how design solutions can be developed quickly with positive results. Our close proximity to J-Boats, combined with the resources available from North Sails Cloth department allowed us to test new designs. We discovered that if we made the ;Iuff longer, moved the draft higher and made the head of the sail bigger (see diagram below), we could maintain stable shape that is easy to fly and provides better downwind speed. A longer luff allows the sail to move away from the headstay and fly with more projection. By rotating the sail to weather out from behind the mainsail, the boat can sail effectively at deeper downwind angles.

Cruising sailors are always looking for balanced solutions to more downwind speed, especially for short handed crews. The TrueMax has turned out to be a really great sail. It provides more speed at deeper angles and it's fun to fly. For the cruising sailor this is great news.

Higher draft and fuller head rotates sail to windward out from behind mainsail

Longer luff increases projected area and allows sail to fly farther away from headstay.