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Submitted on September 2, 2006 by Howard Sachs

Question: I have an Olson40 and have converted it to a cruiser. My wife and I like sailing by ourselves in the SF bay. We are senior citizens so we sail with the following sail combination: Full main and a 100% jib (Harken roller furler)that is about 6ft short on the luff, I think the headsail is called a "Mule". This combination seems to work well up to about 20kts. I am thinking of going to a self tacking jib. What do you recommend?

Regards,
Howard

Answer: Dear Howard,

I think a small self tacking jib will work very well for you and your wife sailing on SF Bay. As you already know, the Olson 40 is easily powered up with little sail so my recommendation is to build a jib sized at approximately 90% that can sheet to a traveler track on your foredeck. I suggest having a clew board installed at the clew of the jib so you can better control the twist of the sail for particular conditions. This would be a very efficient sail that would be easy to handle.

Regards,
Seadon Wijsen
North Sails ~ San Francisco

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