Submitted
on July 27, 2006 by Bas Hoijtink
Question: Hi,
I currently have a Sun Odyssee 45-2 with a mainsail furling mainsail.
Now I want to also hoist another mainsail (bigger and more modern, fully batten) next to it. I know that there is another slide in the mast next to the mainsail slide, but I wonder how I could insert the sail in there. Do you know whether this is possible? Do you have experience with this.
Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Bas
Answer: Hi Bas,
We have built a small number of conventional mainsails, with horizontal battens and roach, that are hoisted on the furling rod inside a Stowaway mast. This system can work but it is not foolproof. The groove on the furling rod accepts a very small luff rope. The small rope, combined with the poor access to the feeder (it is inside the mast cavity) greatly increases the probability that the luff rope will snag and possibly tear as you hoist the sail. Reefing is also less than ideal because the tack reef hardware has to be outside the mast, well aft of the luff rope feeder. This puts a lot of pressure on the luff rope, unless the hardware and reef are perfectly setup.
I have never seen a conventional sail hoisted along side a furled in-mast sail. Even if you can figure out how to do it, it seems like you will be compromising your boats performance by doubling the weight of the mainsails up the rig.
Regards,
Dan Neri
North Sails
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