Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Hi, I am new to the site, and new to Catalina ownership. I just got myself a 1982 Catalina 25, standard rig, swing keel. My wife and I are really enjoying the boat after having moved up from an Edel 540 (18 ft). I am wondering about sail size. The main seems to have a bit of room to put a slightly larger sail. Does this have a negative effect on handling? Also I read about one guy who had a 170 Genoa and he said the boat handled it well. Anybody else have any experience with this?
Well, many of us find that around 150 works well, but unless you are in a very light wind area a 135 is easier to manage and give satisfactory performance. A number of those here have chosen to downsize to a 135 when replacing sails. It also depends on the cut of the sail. A 170 has more overlap than a 150, but it doesn't necessarily have more sail area. As for the main, more foot on the main than standard will give you a little more area on the main, but it will be in the most disturbed air and add little lift. It would be illegal if you ever chose to race, possibly add more weather helm, and offer minimal benefit. Its your boat and your choice, though.
Welcome to the C-25 world and this forum. They are great boats. Just in case you ever do decide to race the boat, even in local club races, it would be smart to stay with the class-approved sail sizes. For now, however, just focus on learning the boat and the sails you already have.
What size headsail do you have now? What conditions do you normally sail in? Do you have a roller-furler? Do you plan to race? A 170 is a lot of stuff to horse around the rig when tacking, although I'd bet most people who have them have selected a lighter sailcloth, if for no other reason than to help keep it filled in light air. You could think about a separate drifter for that...
If you're referring to the extra length of the boom, I presume it's there to provide a better sheeting angle to the traveler on the transom. The length of foot on the standard mainsail may have been selected to allow for a moderate roach (increasing area aloft) without having the backstay foul the sail on tacks, but that's just my speculation. If you increased the foot and reduced the roach, you'd have little change in area--just less up top.
Most people seem to go with either a 150 or 135 head sail -- based on their experience, local conditions and if racing is in their plans. A 170 sounds more like a drifter/reacher, which typically is a light wind sail made from spinnaker weight sail cloth. I would think for a good utility sail 170 would be too much. If racing is your thing you may want to stick with a smaller head sail and consider getting an asymmetrical genneker for performance. Regarding the main, most people evolve from a partially battened mainsail to a fully battened for better performance and then may move to more exotic sail cloths. A larger main may not buy a lot vs a better main of the correct size.
Hi guys, thanks for your input. Everything that you say makes sense. We have winds that are all over the map up here on our lake, from very light, to very strong and gusty. I currently have a 150 on a roller furling. I do like to get involved in some of the club racing here on the lake and am just trying to learn as much as I can about my "new" boat to get her as fast as possible.I was out last night in my first pursuit race and learned that this boat likes to have the sails full and round. The wind was light last night and it took us half of the race to get her sailing at a better speed. Lots to learn about the different ways to set the sail trim on this boat. More so than on my smaller boat. Thanks again.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Murray59</i> <br />...and learned that this boat likes to have the sails full and round...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">...in light air. If you want the best control of the mainsail shape (and are thinking of a replacement), go for a loose foot and an adjustable out-haul, so you can go full or flat, top to bottom, in a proper airfoil shape (rather than a big pocket).
Sorry I'm late in replying. I've been out on a sailboat delivery all week.
On a racing mainsail, a sailmaker increases it's sail area by adding square feet to the leech, not by increasing the length of the foot, because the Class rules limit the length of the foot and the hoist of a mainsail, but there is no limitation on the leech. Accordingly, sailmakers give a mainsail a huge roach.
A mainsail with a very large roach greatly increases the power and efficiency of the mainsail, and it's main drawback is that the roach is so big that it often snags on the backstay during a tack, and it is a minor nuisance to unsnag it. If you are serious about racing, you should get a mainsail with a racing cut. A loose footed mainsail would be a good choice.
Likewise, if you are serious about racing, I would suggest that you keep the roller furling genoa for cruising, and buy a 155% general purpose racing genoa for racing. That would require that you add a little hardware to do so, but not much. With a racing mainsail and 155% racing genoa, and, if you develop the skill to use them, and, if your boat is well-prepped to race, your boat would, IMO, be competitive in any racing fleet.
I would not recommend a headsail over 155% for racing. By using it, you would be assessed an additional handicap time that wouldn't be concomitant with it's benefit.
My friend loaned me his Genoa 150 over this past weekend so that I could see how it sailed on my boat. Overall, it was excellent as it definitely captures more wind than the 110 that I normally use on my boat. The only drawback was tacking....each time we flipped the sail from one side to the other the sail or line got caught on the forward shrouds. I had to overturn to get the wind to blow the 150 through before I could begin to tighten the sheets. This wastes precious time and speed as we tack. I am thinking that I might put PVC pipe on those shrouds, similar to what I did on my C-22 as it allows the sheet and sail to roll over the shroud without any binding. I like the larger Genoa, however do notice a difference in handling it. Does this make sense?
A 150 tends to snag when tacking in lighter air, but in stronger winds, the wind usually blows it across. You can reduce the tendency by putting pvc on the shrouds, and in other ways, but it's just the nature of a big genoa. When racing, I have crew walk the genoa around in light air. When cruising, you tend to sail on much longer tacks, so an occasional snag isn't a big deal. Someone might have to go forward to free it up. But, a big sail increases speed enough so that it's worth the annoyances caused by the snags.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.