twin headsails downwind with CD36

[Russell]

Considering the pacific crossing I intend to do in the 5 year cruise I am currently on I have been considering how to rig a twin headsail downwind rig on my CD36.

Many vets of the "coconut milk run" pacific crossing I have read about and spoken to said running downwind in the trades a twin headsail setup is much better then a standard poled out jib with mailsail out opposite. Basicly they dont run with a main at all and have two jibs flying forward, this apparently reduces roll considerably.

Before I bought my CD36 one boat I fell in love with was the Shannon 38, they are setup perfectly for this, right next to the furler for the headsail is another forestay for hanking on a second jib for running downwind. Looking at my CD36 forestay setup I do not think structurally it can handle adding a second forestay for this purpose without serious modification.

The obvious possibiliy is my furler has two tracks in it so I can run a second jib up the other track, but as we all know running a sail into a furler track isnt quick and easy, and with the possibility of storms and having to quickly modify sail configurations this seems to not be an ideal solution.

I do have a nice drifter which is about a 165 genoa, which I had modified, origonally it was designed to go in the track of the furler, but I had a wire luff put in so I can set it free, so in light winds at least I could do wing on wing using this sail, but its far too light weight and large to hand the constant trades.

Another thing I consider is poling out the sails. I have only one pole, a line adjustable whisker pole which can handle just about any size sail the boat can take. But running with twin head sails seems I would need a second pole, even if slightly off downwind a second one would be needed for the roll.

So I guess what I am asking, any seasoned CD pacific crossing vets out there that can give rigging advice? Or anyone who has exprerience running downwind on a CD with twin head sails and how they did it?

[winthrop fisher]

Hi Russell....

thanks right i was in an area where you can fly two head sails and with an auto pilot can stay on course for days at a time.
we did that on the morgan 41 and cd 27 and a dockrell 31.
in two different oceans.
the three boats that i had, had two forestays and i did not have roller furling at all.
that was the differents in the times, i guess.
i heard of people in boats as small as twenty feet doing that with two head sails going around the world.
trekka was only twenty feet and he stayed on course for days at a time doing that.
but it is not an easy thing to do by your self, pulling up both sails and staying on course at the same time, yes you do need two poles.
i have heard of people bolting the poles to the mast for that reason, if remenber right that dockrell it was bolted to the mast on both sides.
but that boat was a ketch great blue water water.
i have not done that in a long time.
have fun on that trip.
winthrop

Considering the pacific crossing I intend to do in the 5 year cruise I am currently on I have been considering how to rig a twin headsail downwind rig on my CD36.

Many vets of the "coconut milk run" pacific crossing I have read about and spoken to said running downwind in the trades a twin headsail setup is much better then a standard poled out jib with mailsail out opposite. Basicly they dont run with a main at all and have two jibs flying forward, this apparently reduces roll considerably.

Before I bought my CD36 one boat I fell in love with was the Shannon 38, they are setup perfectly for this, right next to the furler for the headsail is another forestay for hanking on a second jib for running downwind. Looking at my CD36 forestay setup I do not think structurally it can handle adding a second forestay for this purpose without serious modification.

The obvious possibiliy is my furler has two tracks in it so I can run a second jib up the other track, but as we all know running a sail into a furler track isnt quick and easy, and with the possibility of storms and having to quickly modify sail configurations this seems to not be an ideal solution.

I do have a nice drifter which is about a 165 genoa, which I had modified, origonally it was designed to go in the track of the furler, but I had a wire luff put in so I can set it free, so in light winds at least I could do wing on wing using this sail, but its far too light weight and large to hand the constant trades.

Another thing I consider is poling out the sails. I have only one pole, a line adjustable whisker pole which can handle just about any size sail the boat can take. But running with twin head sails seems I would need a second pole, even if slightly off downwind a second one would be needed for the roll.

So I guess what I am asking, any seasoned CD pacific crossing vets out there that can give rigging advice? Or anyone who has exprerience running downwind on a CD with twin head sails and how they did it?

[patturner]

I think most of the singlehanded sailors sailing the Transpac and who opt for "twins" have a sail made up for them that share a single luff. I'm pretty sure they also use two poles to set them out there tho'. Pretty user friendly setup from what I've heard.

Pat
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[Cathy Monaghan]

Your CD36 carries two headsails (unless she's been modified to a sloop). Rather than running with the yankee and main, try it with the yankee and staysail -- each on the opposite side of the boat. The yankee can be poled out and a preventer can be set up for the staysail club. It's worth a try.

You may also want to read the message thread regarding use of a twistle yard.


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Russell]

Your CD36 carries two headsails (unless she's been modified to a sloop). Rather than running with the yankee and main, try it with the yankee and staysail -- each on the opposite side of the boat. The yankee can be poled out and a preventer can be set up for the staysail club. It's worth a try.

You may also want to read the message thread regarding use of a twistle yard.


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

The staysail is far too small to do this adequately, the idea is to have twin jibs or genoas and create an efficent balance which will sail well and reduce roll.

The idea of a special twin sail with a single luff is an interesting one i had not heard before, I think I will look into that, though it sounds pricey and stowing that sail is going to be a bear!

[rtbates]

BUT I'll give enough info that someone will know the answer I bet. Mr Vigor wrote about a "blank" yard that is basically two poles hinged in the middle, held up and down by lines, that allows the two headsails to fly in front of the entire rig. Roll is almost nil and other big benis. It can even be tacked by letting one side collapse onto the other.
I think I just remembered, it's called a THISTLE YARD, I believe.

[David van den Burgh]

You may also want to read the message thread regarding use of a twistle yard.

[David VanDenburgh]

I've sailed a lot of miles downwind by:
- furling the main
- putting two jibs on the headstay by interleaving the jib hanks on the one stay (alternate them so they don't bind on each other)
- poling one out with the whisker/spinnaker pole
- poling the other out on the opposite side of the boat by sheeting it off the end of the (prevented) main boom

Cheap. Easy. Works.