Head sails

[French]

I am doing some reserach on buying a used HEad sail. What is the difference between a Jib and A Genoa? Also Hanks, wire and tape ( is this real tape ) ?

thanks

[S.Airing]

First do you have a roller furling unit or a bare forestay.That tells you if you need hanks or tape or wire.Were do you sail in what conditions,I keep a #165 genoa on my furler ,the smallest head sail I have is a 150,but I sail on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland were the wind is generally 10to 15 in the summer.If your sailing on the west coast you might want just a working jib(I think,never been there).

[French]

Hi
I am in the Bay area of S. F. , CA
I have just the bare forestay. I currently have a headsail there that is attached with plastic clips. It is off a Santana and is too small, but works. I am for the most part a fair weather crusing sailor.

[S.Airing]

Do you know what size the sail is?Does it over lap the mast?A 150 persent genoa has about a 15 feet 6 inch or so foot.You need a plain hanked sail,dont worry about wire or luff tape,thats for furled sails.

[French]

Ah, ok that answers hanks part of the question. Thanks

As far as the size of the current one I'm unsure I will have to measure it tomorrow as it is dark here.
However I do know that it is short of the Mast. Maybe about 3ft or more. Someone told me a 100% headsail reaches the Mast, a 110% which is the other common size goes past it. Mine does not reach it. So I figure it is 80% and maybe good for a strom Headsail which I think is suppose to be small.

[S.Airing]

Yea,thats a very small sail,about the size of a storm jib.These boats require large head sails to get moving.My 165 genoa reaches all the way back to the end of the cabin.

[Bill]

Hey French, no need to struggle. Just give Hogan Sails and / or Pineapple Sails a call. They will often have used sails available for Ariels & Commanders.

Also, the local Bay Area Ariel / Commander fleet members may have headsails that are no longer competitive and would be interested in selling a Class jib (110%). (I know that I need to replace my Class jib . . .) A 150% Genoa will be a little harder to find, but it is only good for winter sailing around here. Try posting a want ad to our Classified & Off Topic Fourm, directed to Bay Area skippers.

Finally, show up at the Hoppe Regatta and Maintenance meeting April 13 and ask around. Flyer due out next week (as soon as I get it printed).

[French]

Ed, thanks for the info. I did look at the Pinapple site.

I will be at the Hoppe event this year, I had to miss last yr, but I'm marking this one on my calendar. I may even get adventurous and Sail over, if I can take a half day off on Friday to make the trip from Martinez and the tides are with me, and the wind is fair and... :-)

A little side note. I was out with my sailing club last weekend and had on my new Ariel T-shirt. I was surprise how many people came up and said things like, Oh Ariels! Great little boats, my dad, we had, my family, etc, had one.

[Mike Goodwin]

If you do not plan on class racing , I have noticed that J-24 headsails will fit and are very much available on the used market at a lower price. Most J racers get new sails and turn in the old ones before they are hardly used at all .
I have gotten 10 years of hard sailing out of used sails .

[pmorgan]

To figure the size of your jib (90%, 150% etc.), measure the distance from where the jib attaches at the tack (on the stem fitting) to the leading edge of the mast. Unless your boat has been modified it should be about 11' 7". This dimension is called the J.

Now, if you measure your sail from the clew to the nearest point along the luff, that will be a line perpendicular to the luff directly to the clew. This dimension is called the L.P. of the sail.

If the L.P. of your jib is the same number as the J then that is a 100% jib. A 150% genoa has an L.P. of: 1.5 x J.

When comparing sails another important thing to consider besides L.P. is whether the sail luff goes all the way to the top of the forestay. A 90% jib with a 7/8 hoist will be smaller in area than a 90% jib with a full hoist (goes to the top).

To calculate area of a sail use: Luff length x L.P. x .5

Hope this helps
Paul

[French]

Mike and Pmorgan thanks for the info.

Mike I have run across several site with used sails. As I am a lite user I figured they would work.

PMorgan I will try that to see just what I have.