This sounds very similar to what I am trying to do with my Corsair F31R trimaran. I found that changing hanked on headsails in severe weather is a real chore, and I did not trust the deep reef in the main because iit is well below the hounds, and if you crank on the main sheet, you start to get mast inversion.
So I have attached a carbon eye to the mast at the upper spreaders, and plan to use a facnor furler with an external halyard to raise a storm jib (just under half the size of the 200 square foot standard jib). The sail will tack about 18 inches back from the forestay. I have also made provision for check stays (probably 5 mm Dux) which go back to the outer end othe aft beams.
Here is the question-- the smallest facnor furler has a SWL of about 2000 lbs and is said to be good for up to 300 feet of sail area. But how do I think about the load-- If I crank on the main sheet (which is a 12/1) in 40 knots, and we are banging into the waves, will I be spiking the loads way above the SWL?
The next size up (swl about 3600 lbs) is another 200 bucks, which is mone I need for replacing some halyards.
Am I being paranoid?
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