Is Carrying Storm Sails On Your Cruising Boat Really Necessary
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Typically, storm sails are buried in the depths of a locker or under a bunk, leaving the more accessible space for other items deemed more important. this is a mistake: nothing is more important than the safety of the boat and crew. so when you’re on passage, your storm sails need to be easy to locate and ready to use. The primary requirements of these sails are that they:~. must be very robustly constructed of heavyweight sail cloth, and. must be of a size suitable for the boat, and. should be highly visible against a grey and white sea. every offshore cruising boat should carry a storm jib and trysail. hove to under these sails, a well found yacht should be.
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Being designed and made for tough conditions, storm sails will set better, perform better and be stronger and thus safer than deeply reefed sails. especially if the storm jib is set on a dedicated inner forestay, the sail configuration of storm jib and trysail will concentrate the centre of effort in the middle of the boat. Last summer sail tested banner bay’s storm bag and atn’s gale sail to get a feel for how easy it is to set and stow these systems. here’s what we learned. atn gale sail. the atn gale sail is a fairly straightforward storm sail made from bombproof 8.5 or 9.5 oz. dacron, depending on the size of the boat. World sailing offshore special regulations (osr) governs the rules for boats taking part in recognised offshore races, including the storm sails they must carry. while there is no such rule for cruising boats, the information provided in the osr is based on best practice and is updated at least every two years to reflect the latest knowledge in. During dangerous storm conditions, this could be the difference between a controllable boat and a knockdown. types of storm sails. most vessels that carry storm sails have one for the forward sail plan and one for the after sail plan. this typically includes a trysail for replacing the mainsail and a storm jib for replacing the headsail. in.
![](https://i0.wp.com/sicepat.com/images/image-not-found.png)
World sailing offshore special regulations (osr) governs the rules for boats taking part in recognised offshore races, including the storm sails they must carry. while there is no such rule for cruising boats, the information provided in the osr is based on best practice and is updated at least every two years to reflect the latest knowledge in. During dangerous storm conditions, this could be the difference between a controllable boat and a knockdown. types of storm sails. most vessels that carry storm sails have one for the forward sail plan and one for the after sail plan. this typically includes a trysail for replacing the mainsail and a storm jib for replacing the headsail. in. Storm jibs and staysail: a staple sail on cruising sailboats. at the other end of the scale is the storm jib. this is a 3 sided sail made from heavy cloth, designed to be flown in heavy weather. a storm jib should be less than 5% of the triangle delineated by the mast and forestay. The storm sails seen on most cruising boats—if they’recarried at all—are often built without seriousregard for the real life requirements of storm sails.last year, north sails new zealand built us anall purpose storm staysail to the maximum sizepermitted under offshore racing council specificationsfor storm jibs. this sail is designed to.
![](https://i0.wp.com/sicepat.com/images/image-not-found.png)
Storm jibs and staysail: a staple sail on cruising sailboats. at the other end of the scale is the storm jib. this is a 3 sided sail made from heavy cloth, designed to be flown in heavy weather. a storm jib should be less than 5% of the triangle delineated by the mast and forestay. The storm sails seen on most cruising boats—if they’recarried at all—are often built without seriousregard for the real life requirements of storm sails.last year, north sails new zealand built us anall purpose storm staysail to the maximum sizepermitted under offshore racing council specificationsfor storm jibs. this sail is designed to.
![](https://i0.wp.com/sicepat.com/images/image-not-found.png)
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