Storm sails

[JD-MDR]

Just trying to keep the forum active.
I think installing the separate track for a storm trysail might not have been necessary for a ketch rig. Now I know the rig original had a reef in the mizzen. When I bought the boat there was no reef point on the mizzen but the hardware was there. That and the club footed jib should be ok in a Gale. Although. I felt the 100% club jib was a little too big and I had trouble keeping it trimmed.
I didn’t get a chance to test this setup with a storm jib on the club boom but It might be ok. This way I don’t have to get out separate sheets. Also the sheets fray on the shrouds.
Dang. I lost the photo. Anyway. I hanked on the storm jib and used a strap as outhaul on the club boom so I can control it using the traveler track
Well here is a photo of Leoma tied up at Morro Bay yacht club

[Jim Walsh]

Orion is a cutter so I have two headsails, a yankee and a club footed staysail. The yankee had an old Hood furler when I bought her, and the staysail was hanked on. After my first trip to Bermuda in some “challenging” weather I replaced the hanked-on staysail with a new Harken furling unit. Infinitely adjustable from the cockpit and I didn’t have to re-experience clawing the staysail down on a wildly pitching foredeck. Since the furling unit worked so well and was relatively easy to assemble I replaced the old Hood furler on my yankee the following year with another Harken unit, just one size up.
I’m a big fan of anything which keeps me off the foredeck in bad weather.

[JD-MDR]

Here are the photos. I want to try the storm jib like this

Here is the club footed jib built for this boat. I think it’s called 100%. It seems too big for winds over 30 knots. It goes all the way up to the top and back as far as possible. It blew out on the approach to Hawaii. About 300 mi out. I started getting squalls
It would be nice to have roller furling. But the experience I have is they don’t reef well. There is another CD ketch here He has roller furling a salient stay and staysail. That’s too much for me. I can’t afford it

[John Stone]

JD
Thanks for sharing your experience perspective. I can't really offer much other than the photo you posted of the jib suggest the jib is in very bad shape. Maybe it's not fully hoisted and that's why it looks so baggy.

Your storm jib rig might work. You may have trouble sheeting it in snug. Did you use it as shown after your jib blew out? How did it work? Did you sail with it and your mains'l or with the mizzen.

I didn't use a furler for a long time but I was able to reef my jib from a 100 percent to about a 70 percent jib by unzipping the bottom 6'. The double reefed main and the smaller working jib was a nice combo. You could also reef a jib by the use of reef points. The reefed bonnet will tend to catch spray offshore though. Another option is a second smaller jib you can hank on after striking the bigger jib. That's the way we did it in the old days.

I eliminated the club footed staysl in my boat or I should say I eliminated the club. I know there are sailors who like the club footed headsails. But I would not want to be on the foredeck with a big club swinging around offshore at night in a blow.

There is no magic answer to how the headsails and foredeck should be set up. But, there are three paramount requirements that need to be in place regardless the layout. You need to be able to maintain good sailing performance which means properly set and trimmed headsails. You need to be able to reef/strike the headsails with minimal difficulty. It needs to be as safe as possible on the foredeck.

[JD-MDR]

Hi John
Thanks for responding. Yea. I didn’t it hoist it up tight. I just wanted to show the size. Ive been thinking about putting a reef in that one. I have another jib from my previous boat. Never used. It’s cut high. I think you call that yankee. But again I have to get out the jib sheets.
No I didnt get to test the storm jib yet