Solent Stay

[benz]

Hi Joel,

Good drawings--very clear, and good ideas, even if the details are iffy. My staysail sets in a similar fashion, without any cascading tension, though. The Vectran halyard goes from the head of the sail, through a block aloft, then back down through the sail hanks to a turning block shackled to the stem. There is a becket on the block to which the tack is attached, so the sail is hoisted by pulling upwards on the halyard with feet planted firmly on deck. When tensioned (either by hand or with a turn around the rope drum of the windlass for extra tightness), the halyard becomes a sort of forestay for the sail. Thus the forestay's only use is to hold up the mast, and when dousing the staysail, I unshackle the turning block and the whole circus stows out of the way by the mast, leaving the foredeck free for anchoring or whatever. I find it a lovely system, very quick to set up and stow, without having to hank on and off, since the hanks stay permanently on.

[Joel H.]

Well, unfortunately a number of knowledgeable people on Sailnet are telling me, (and I'm summarizing here), that even a Solent Stay, without a running backstay, will not produce a proper sail shape ("luff sag") due to the reduced stay tension caused by the load sharing between the 2 foreword stays being balanced by only a single OEM backstay.
So, I'm going to sit on it a while, till I gather more opinions.
I'm hoping you and other people here might be able to comment on that.
Thx,
Joel H.

P.S. I do think my design would be slick, if it worked.

[benz]

You only need a bar-tight luff on the jib when pointing as high as possible. In that scenario, you'd likely be using the jib on the furler, rather than a bigger foresail on a Solent. If the wind was light enough that the bigger foresail was appropriate for pointing, then the luff wouldn't sag that much, due to less pressure on it. When off the wind a little, the advantages of the larger sails would be worth the trouble, I think.
You should really freak out the Sailnet people by suggesting the addition of a bowsprit, just for fun.

[Joel H.]

LOL...........
RE; Bowsprit,
That's the funny thing, I did mention a bowsprit, so I could be able to fly the gennaker I have, on a code furler. I was told that it was unnecessary and I should keep it simple and just fly a 150% on my head sail furler, which I already am. Then, when I talk about a Solent Stay to be able to fly my hank-on 110% and my hank-on 130%. I'm told it is unnecessary and to keep it simple, and just fit the 130% to my head sail furler and live with that.

[Joel H.]

I probably should describe my current sail plan. This is how things are set up since I bought the boat three years ago.
I have a heavy duty mainsail, the only headsail that is setup for the furler unit is a sweet tri-radial laminate 150% (so of course, my thinking is that, I would like to keep that in the arsenal).
Then in the "loft", so to speak, I have a like new Gennaker, a decent hank-on 110%, and a similarly decent hank-on 130%.
So, if the Solent Stay isn't really the best to use for close to the wind work with the 110%, I guess it would only be a help downwind with the 130% and the 150% wing to wing?

[benz]

If your biggest jib is already on the furler, then the solent probably isn't practical, unless you wanted to put a tiny jib on for nasty weather, Your best bet is probably to retro-fit the other two sails to go into the furler foil and bend them on when there's bigger wind in the forecast than you want to fly a 150% in. It's good to take sails in and out of furler foils from time to time: makes sure everythings running smooth and gives you a chance to lube up. If you want lots of sail options, perhaps you should look at a cutter or ketch for your next boat.

[Joel H.]

Thanks Benz.
Good advise. Mod-ing my sails for the furler sounds like the right approach to me now, also. I think I'll start with the 110.
Thanks for taking the time to help me through this. I'll shoot an update here now and then.
Cheers,
Joel H.