Cal 34 sail question

Hello folks, I'm a long-time lurker here, thanks all for the great discussions. I have a '69 Cal 34 (with the low aspect rig, 14' boom) and I'm shopping for a new furling genoa. I believe what is currently on it is a 155, and while nice in the light breeze it seems overkill for gusts over 15 knots upwind, and it's impossible to furl in any kind of reef without inducing horrible shape. So I'm thinking of going down to a 135 for the new one. And have the old one reconditioned and use it for low wind situations/seasons. My questions-- I've never had a sail with foam at the luff. I understand the concept, I think-- to create a flatter sail as the jib is furled in for a reef. But from my reading online, it would seem that some sailmakers are better at reefed jib shapes than others.....any recommendations on this point? I know there will always be some shape issues in any furled genoa, but I want to do what I can to minimize them. If it matters, I have a Shaefer 2000 furler. Second question-- any opinions on luff length? My forestay is 39'. The orig. Cal owners manual calls for a 34' luff on a #3 genoa, with a 5' pendent at the head. The Big genny I have now maxes out on height. Do I want to go with the orig. specs? Which luff length would be more likely to reef flat(ter)? Any advice would be truly appreciated. Thanks! Paul

My best advice. Once you get the opinions from this list, make sure to have a sailmaker buy into and participate in the program and understand your final usage. He will then be on the hook to "make-it right". My one attempt to re-cut a nice sail into a roller furling sail was a complete waste of time and money, and nearly brought down my rig (mast). From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of pdxcal34 Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 1:28 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Cal 34 sail question Hello folks, I'm a long-time lurker here, thanks all for the great discussions. I have a '69 Cal 34 (with the low aspect rig, 14' boom) and I'm shopping for a new furling genoa. I believe what is currently on it is a 155, and while nice in the light breeze it seems overkill for gusts over 15 knots upwind, and it's impossible to furl in any kind of reef without inducing horrible shape. So I'm thinking of going down to a 135 for the new one. And have the old one reconditioned and use it for low wind situations/seasons. My questions-- I've never had a sail with foam at the luff. I understand the concept, I think-- to create a flatter sail as the jib is furled in for a reef. But from my reading online, it would seem that some sailmakers are better at reefed jib shapes than others.....any recommendations on this point? I know there will always be some shape issues in any furled genoa, but I want to do what I can to minimize them. If it matters, I have a Shaefer 2000 furler. Second question-- any opinions on luff length? My forestay is 39'. The orig. Cal owners manual calls for a 34' luff on a #3 genoa, with a 5' pendent at the head. The Big genny I have now maxes out on height. Do I want to go with the orig. specs? Which luff length would be more likely to reef flat(ter)? Any advice would be truly appreciated. Thanks! Paul

As I understand it, the reason for the shorter luff was that the sail cloths of the day could not handle the high aspect ratio. Sail cloth today can if you get a high quality Dacron cloth and absolutely if you get a Mylar sandwich of some kind. So, go with a luff about a foot less than the forestay or whatever the sailmaker thinks is the right standoff. I am unfamiliar with your rig but will share an experience with my 130. I had to get it recut to remove 2 inches from the leach. That allowed the leach to clear the spreader tips and that allowed the sail to be sheeted in about a foot closer to centerline for much improved pointing. I have since read that a 130 tends to give poor performance in general because the sheeting angle cannot get as small as either a blade or a 155, which is sheeted much further back. With your boat, consider where the sail will go. Inside the lifeline, ourside, inside the rigging, will it hit the spreader? All these can mean that going from a 135 to a 134 can make for a much better sail (not real numbers, just an example). Allen L-36 #5 On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 1:28 PM, pdxcal34 <eu… [at] comcast.net> wrote: > ** > > > Hello folks, > > I'm a long-time lurker here, thanks all for the great discussions. > > I have a '69 Cal 34 (with the low aspect rig, 14' boom) and I'm shopping > for a new furling genoa. I believe what is currently on it is a 155, and > while nice in the light breeze it seems overkill for gusts over 15 knots > upwind, and it's impossible to furl in any kind of reef without inducing > horrible shape. > > So I'm thinking of going down to a 135 for the new one. And have the old > one reconditioned and use it for low wind situations/seasons. > > My questions-- > > I've never had a sail with foam at the luff. I understand the concept, I > think-- to create a flatter sail as the jib is furled in for a reef. But > from my reading online, it would seem that some sailmakers are better at > reefed jib shapes than others.....any recommendations on this point? I know > there will always be some shape issues in any furled genoa, but I want to do > what I can to minimize them. If it matters, I have a Shaefer 2000 furler. > > Second question-- any opinions on luff length? My forestay is 39'. The > orig. Cal owners manual calls for a 34' luff on a #3 genoa, with a 5' > pendent at the head. The Big genny I have now maxes out on height. Do I want > to go with the orig. specs? Which luff length would be more likely to reef > flat(ter)? > > Any advice would be truly appreciated. > > Thanks! > > Paul > > >

Thanks Allen, that's great advice. On the Columbia here it is mostly either close-hauled or dead down wind with the prevailing winds--I want to get all I can upwind. I will absolutely have a look at where the new sale meets (or misses) the spreaders. I wasn't thinking of that, but should have been-- my old genoa overlaps, but isn't happy at all in that area. Also, I had a chat with a local sailmaker today who explained the older-style shorter luff much the same. Thanks again, Paul --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, Allen Edwards <allen.edwards@...> wrote: > > As I understand it, the reason for the shorter luff was that the sail cloths > of the day could not handle the high aspect ratio. Sail cloth today can if > you get a high quality Dacron cloth and absolutely if you get > a Mylar sandwich of some kind. So, go with a luff about a foot less than > the forestay or whatever the sailmaker thinks is the right standoff. I > am unfamiliar with your rig but will share an experience with my 130. I had > to get it recut to remove 2 inches from the leach. That allowed the leach > to clear the spreader tips and that allowed the sail to be sheeted in about > a foot closer to centerline for much improved pointing. I have since read > that a 130 tends to give poor performance in general because the sheeting > angle cannot get as small as either a blade or a 155, which is sheeted much > further back. With your boat, consider where the sail will go. Inside the > lifeline, ourside, inside the rigging, will it hit the spreader? All these > can mean that going from a 135 to a 134 can make for a much better sail (not > real numbers, just an example). > > Allen > L-36 #5 > > On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 1:28 PM, pdxcal34 <eurekaconsco@...> wrote: > > > ** > > > > > > Hello folks, > > > > I'm a long-time lurker here, thanks all for the great discussions. > > > > I have a '69 Cal 34 (with the low aspect rig, 14' boom) and I'm shopping > > for a new furling genoa. I believe what is currently on it is a 155, and > > while nice in the light breeze it seems overkill for gusts over 15 knots > > upwind, and it's impossible to furl in any kind of reef without inducing > > horrible shape. > > > > So I'm thinking of going down to a 135 for the new one. And have the old > > one reconditioned and use it for low wind situations/seasons. > > > > My questions-- > > > > I've never had a sail with foam at the luff. I understand the concept, I > > think-- to create a flatter sail as the jib is furled in for a reef. But > > from my reading online, it would seem that some sailmakers are better at > > reefed jib shapes than others.....any recommendations on this point? I know > > there will always be some shape issues in any furled genoa, but I want to do > > what I can to minimize them. If it matters, I have a Shaefer 2000 furler. > > > > Second question-- any opinions on luff length? My forestay is 39'. The > > orig. Cal owners manual calls for a 34' luff on a #3 genoa, with a 5' > > pendent at the head. The Big genny I have now maxes out on height. Do I want > > to go with the orig. specs? Which luff length would be more likely to reef > > flat(ter)? > > > > Any advice would be truly appreciated. > > > > Thanks! > > > > Paul > > > > > > >