Your Opinion on new Sails for a 26M

[sailboatmike]

I love my Dacron sails you guys posted over to Australia for me Ezra

It really is like a whole different boat from the one I was sailing with the original blown out 1995 sails.

Her pointing ability is now almost just as good as many of the hot shot racers with their cramped cabins and all the compromises toward racing.

Sure we are not quite as fast, but we do weigh over twice as much as most of them when we are ballasted up and we do tend to race (read go for a leisurely sail) with double the crew to enjoy the social side.

I would say for anyone that really wants to improve their sailing experience and is using old blown out sails, spend the $$$ and get some nice new sails, Once you have sailed with them you will wonder why you didnt do it sooner

[vkmaynard]

Purchased Precison Sails triradial Main and 130 custom head sail. They are helping me design a compromise head sail with 2 sheets per side (one connected to jib track and one connected to new genoa mid track). Attempting a better furled jib with luff rope. Will need to add an additional track on the rub rail near the head.

Idea is to not have to motor into a head wind and change sail configuration without climbing on the deck.

Victor

[Ixneigh]

Echo many owners on this. Good sails are a must. The sails the boats came with are like those cheap tires some autos were sold with. Some buyers changed them out right off the bat.
I have a high cut jib that's about 20-30 percent smaller than the factory jib. Its a hank on. This is an excellent all purpose sail for my average conditions. If the wind is on the light side the boats slower, but I can leave it up until I've got two reefs in the main. Meantime the boat will go to weather passibly well in moderate chop. I have four headsails aboard now. A gennacker, the factory jib, my usual high cut jib, and a storm jib that I just put aboard after sewing the hanks on. This jib works well with two reefs. A must for sailing over shallow water with the board up.
I get the not going on the bow idea though.
Ix

[sailboatmike]

I recently acquainted myself with my old JOG trailer Sailor when the guy that bought from me docked next to me at christmas and invited me to come for a sail.

All I can say is I had forgotten what it was like to sail, VERY VERY different from the X, the rounded hull and the skeg gives a totally different sensation of sailing, it was like being on a feather bed and sort of slid through the water, compared to the X which powers through the water, we then went for a sail in the Mac and decided that we had made the right choice, the Mac while a bit harsher just gave you the feeling of being king of its domain, no fuss, no worries and decidedly faster.

But I digress, the JOG boat has a deck sweeper Genoa on the furler, so when its furled only part of the way out like a jib it is actually like a jib with the foot sweeping the deck, I had forgotten all the fine details of it because it has been 4 years since I sailed it. It was a great chance to go back in time and really reinforced to us that buying the Mac was the right decision but boy sailing a 20 footer is fun and just how tiny is a 20 footer next to the X

[Ixneigh]

When those large sails are rolled up to smaller sizes, sail shape goes out the window. With poor shape in windy weather the boats already marginal windward ability declines.
Ix

[sailboatmike]

When those large sails are rolled up to smaller sizes, sail shape goes out the window. With poor shape in windy weather the boats already marginal windward ability declines.
Ix

This Genoa held pretty good shape considering we were only maybe 2/3's of the way out, wouldnt want to be pushing seriously into the wind with it, but it wasnt all bad, it did have the advantage of me being the foresail crew, trimming that sail for maximum effect

[1st Sail]

After reading all the comments from those who replaced their OEM sails there appears to be two agreeable conclusions:
Less heel.
Better performance.
Since I sail the upper Mississippi current is always a factor for me. That said for those with new sails what is your estimated speed difference between your OEM (assume blown out) sails and your new BWY/Precision/Hyde/etc. sails?

[sailboatmike]

Since I sail the upper Mississippi current is always a factor for me. That said for those with new sails what is your estimated speed difference between your OEM (assume blown out) sails and your new BWY/Precision/Hyde/etc. sails?

That depends on the wind conditions you will be quicker up wind but speed isnt the real factor, its the ability to sail better angles and in stronger winds, the boat will only go at hull speed (about 6.3knts) unless you have enough sail to make it plane and I seriously doubt that given the weight.

Its about needing fewer tacks to cover the same ground up wind, being able to keep the sails "on" harder as the wind increases, being able to depower the sail more effectively and generally make the boat better and more fun to sail, we can now sail upwind well inside 45 degrees on head sail alone and can point as well as many of the "real sailboats" we occasionally race against.

Of course better sails wont make you a better sailor, but they will make the boat vastly better to sail

[Idh63]

I purchase CDI and 100% mylar jib/sock combo from BWY last season for my . Much better sail than factory jib. Noticeably more power. Fast acceleration in light variable winds. My boat gets overpowered with this jib and standard Tattoo 26 main at about 10 knots. I have to agree that I don't see a powerhead sail helpful for me on Lake Lanier GA. On the other hand a reefed powerhead may be ok, but one reef point is not enough.

I am talking to BWY about a Mylar main presently. If I pull the trigger I will let you guys know the results. I want a solution to sail in 10-20 knots with a reasonably balanced sail plan and less backwinding. A backwinding mainsail seems to be my never ending challenge with factory mainsail. This is made more difficult with the lousy factory boom vang system.

I am a solo sailer.

[KootsChewt]

I'm shopping for a new jib this year. We've had our boat for one full season now, and were on the water about 20 days. I've come to the conclusion that my mountain lake is not really suitable for a 150% genoa (which came with the boat on a furler). On light wind days, it has been great, but we often get bigger gusts, and then whenever the wind does come up, furling the sail to roughly 100% (or less) takes the clew too high from the deck for the sail to really work, even with re-routing the sheets to the cabin top pulleys. (It gets baggy and the boat won't point anymore.)

So what I'm thinking is that we'll buy a decent jib and put that on the roller and give it a try for this year. We'll lose out a bit in light winds I guess, but it should be better in all other conditions. Will adding some luff tape also help to keep the sail flat when furling it?

[Herschel]

I'm shopping for a new jib this year. We've had our boat for one full season now, and were on the water about 20 days. I've come to the conclusion that my mountain lake is not really suitable for a 150% genoa (which came with the boat on a furler). On light wind days, it has been great, but we often get bigger gusts, and then whenever the wind does come up, furling the sail to roughly 100% (or less) takes the clew too high from the deck for the sail to really work, even with re-routing the sheets to the cabin top pulleys. (It gets baggy and the boat won't point anymore.)

So what I'm thinking is that we'll buy a decent jib and put that on the roller and give it a try for this year. We'll lose out a bit in light winds I guess, but it should be better in all other conditions. Will adding some luff tape also help to keep the sail flat when furling it?

I have been using a standard jib for about 12 years on my 26X for similar reasons. In Central Florida the chance for a afternoon storm or strong wind makes it less enjoyable to risk the larger Genoa. So, I find the standard jib all the head sail I need. I don't race, so not looking for inordinate speed or even fastest possible sail. I am out there to enjoy the sail and being on the water. Standard jib is great for that. Roller furling makes that even better.

[Tomfoolery]

I'm shopping for a new jib this year. We've had our boat for one full season now, and were on the water about 20 days. I've come to the conclusion that my mountain lake is not really suitable for a 150% genoa (which came with the boat on a furler). On light wind days, it has been great, but we often get bigger gusts, and then whenever the wind does come up, furling the sail to roughly 100% (or less) takes the clew too high from the deck for the sail to really work, even with re-routing the sheets to the cabin top pulleys. (It gets baggy and the boat won't point anymore.)

So what I'm thinking is that we'll buy a decent jib and put that on the roller and give it a try for this year. We'll lose out a bit in light winds I guess, but it should be better in all other conditions. Will adding some luff tape also help to keep the sail flat when furling it?

I have been using a standard jib for about 12 years on my 26X for similar reasons. In Central Florida the chance for a afternoon storm or strong wind makes it less enjoyable to risk the larger Genoa. So, I find the standard jib all the head sail I need. I don't race, so not looking for inordinate speed or even fastest possible sail. I am out there to enjoy the sail and being on the water. Standard jib is great for that. Roller furling makes that even better.

I'll add that the working jib points higher than the genoa, at least on my boat. And it's easier to see around. I waffle back and forth between the jib and the genoa, but I find I use the jib more often. But an advantage is that the boat sails pretty well on just the genoa alone (but not with just the jib alone), so when I'm lazy and the genoa is on the furler, I'll unspool it and sail around the bay, roll it back up, and I'm ready for the dock.

Being that the sails are all original as far as I can tell, performance is a word best applied below decks.

[sailboatmike]

I find my X sails really well on jib alone, certainly better with the new sail that the old blown out one, we often go out and just sail under jib alone mainly because Im lazy and unfurling the jib take around 1 1/2 seconds compared to messing around hoisting the main and then refolding it.

If we are going much further than just out in our local bay I will hoist the main, but I find the main adds very little in the way of speed if you have around 10 knots of wind. I mostly sail just for the relaxation so getting the last yard of speed out of it means best part of nothing if it means I can be lazy.

[KootsChewt]

Thanks folks! I've asked BWY for a quote on a cruising sail, and North Sails (who have a loft in Richmond, BC and fixed my main last year). I've heard lots of good stuff about Judy and her Hyde sails, but based on the online price, they are more then what I'm looking for.

How about luff pad? Anyone out there using one to have their headsail keep better shape when furled?

[sailboatmike]

My jib is a BWY performance /cruising sail, the only thing that I'm not overly happy about is the furling cover isnt Sunbrella, it seems to be just a extra bit of sail cloth sewn on one side. My fault, I ASSUMED that it would be of Sunbrella type material as I have never seen a sail with just extra sailcloth as sun protection