Yankee jib size on CD-30?

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Steve Laume
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Joined: Feb 13th, '05, 20:40
Location: Raven1984 Cape Dory 30C Hull #309Noank, CT
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Yankee jib size on CD-30?

Post by Steve Laume »

I just talked to my sail maker about the quote I asked him to give me on a new yankee. His question for me was weather I wanted to enlarge the sail a bit. I believe I have the original jib and it has a long tack pennant. He questioned weather I would like to bring the tack down a bit and increase the sail area slightly. The boat is a cutter rig and this sail is set on a roller furler. I also have a genoa that I could switch to for light wind conditions. He also questioned weather I might like to keep the sail the same size but lower it a bit by cutting out some of that pennant. Have any of you increased the size of your yankee? Is there a down side to doing this? The only question he had on the CD-10 sail is, what color? That old nylon has really had it, Steve.
Kevin L.
Posts: 6
Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 20:05
Location: CD 30c Raconteur
San Francisco (Alameda) CA

Post by Kevin L. »

Hi Steve,

No one else seems to be giving you any feedback, so I will share my experience with you. I replaced the yankee and staysail on my 30c about four years ago, through the local Hood loft here in the SF bay area.

The sailmaker also asked me if I wanted to enlarge the yankee over the factory size, which I did end up doing. I'm not convinced it was that great of an idea given what our conditions are like here (usually very windy).

According to Hood, the standard yankee was 85% of the foretriangle. The sail on my boat (probably not the original sail) did not have any kind of pendant on it. I went with a 100% yankee. It definitely has more drive than the smaller sail, however, with conditions here, I'm having to furl it frequently (somewhere between 16 and 18 knots of apparent wind). You might not have the same experience in the East. The other downside to the larger sail is that it is just that much more difficult to get through the slot between the headstay and the staysail stay. I have had to have the cover re-stitched (it's on a furler) due to the chafe of tacking the sail between the stays.

Having said that, I would definitely recommend getting rid of any unnecessary pendant length. You will lower the center of effort of the sail and reduce heeling.
Kevin LeMans
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