Charlie:
It appears you are considering the correct factors. “Average”
wind speed can be misleading. It depends how it’s being averaged. Time of
day, time of year, time when racing usually occurs, etc., can all factor in.
For example, in Erie our Wednesday evening races are often light air because
the wind tends to die in the evenings during most of the racing season. If I
looked at the average wind speed for the whole day, it would be higher than
when we race.
I commented on NorDac a couple weeks ago. If they get the
shape right (which they did not do on my mainsail), it could be a reasonably
fast, durable sail. Given the surprising bulk, I suggest looking at a NorDac
sail up close before ordering.
When I bought my boat it had a 135% furling dacron genoa. For
“real” racing (which I don’t do a lot of), I have a Doyle 153% racing genoa.
For our Wednesday evening FJAM races, I would use the 135%, but we were always
unpowered. I did not want to change out to the good sail just for FJAM racing,
so I decided to replace my 135% with a North 153% dacron (not NorDac) furling
genoa, which I also use for cruising. It has held up well for several years.
I had it washed last year in the off-season, and it looks good. Appears to be
holding its shape.
Matt
From: Charlie Nelson via CnC-List <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2021 11:23 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Stus-List New sails, new wind
Hello all listers.
I have a hypothetical for the racers among you.
I need to replace my 3DL headsail--its mostly patches after ~ 5 years of club
racing locally. This is about my 3rd laminate style headsail---and my last!
I am probably going with the North 3D Nordac which has replaced the former 3DL
technology with what they call a composite sail--not laminated but still built
over a 3D mold of the sail shape desired--if I understand this correctly. I do
not need the super light and costly Raw or Endurance.
Anyhow, I plan to move to a new sailing area off Southport, NC near Bald Head
Island at the mouth of the Cape Fear River--basically on the NC coast.
All my club racing to date has been in the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers,
occasionally racing to Ocracoke across the Pamlico Sound. For these areas, a
155% headsail is the largest you can race with locally without penalty and so
that is what I have always used.
The North sail maker suggested because of the higher coastal winds that I may
not need a 155% since the wind strength is higher at the coast. OTOH, a racer
there uses a 155% headsail and says he does well with it.
I checked the historical average wind speed for Southport and New Bern and the
coastal winds are from 20-25% higher than at New Bern.
For instance, the avg. wind speed varies from 5.5-8.1 knots in New Bern vs.
about 7-10 knots in Southport, or about 25% higher on average.
Further, I know from experience that my masthead rig becomes seriously
overpowered once the wind gets greater than about 12 knots true, when its time
to reef the main(I only have 1 reef point) and if it goes above ~ 15 knots, I
need to roll the headsail a few turns (or change down to a 135% or 90%
headsail).
I am not inclined to go less than the 155% allowed locally (PHRF) but maybe I
should--the local North guy suggested ~ 140%. This might better match the local
wind and is less expensive since less material is used. OTOH, I don't want to
be under canvassed on the light air days.
Further, there is the question of sail material weight to consider.
I plan for this to be my last headsail purchase and may use it some for local
cruising in addition to club racing. BTW, it will be used on a furler either
way.
So what would the listers do!!
Charlie Nelson
1995 C&C 36 XL/kcb
Water Phantom
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