We had great results on the weekend competing in the Ted Elks regatta
The forecast was a bit dodgy with rain squalls up to the high 20s and lighter patches so we decided to leave the number 3 in the bag and experiment with furling the new spectra 150% Genoa
To all our surprise the furled sailed looked ugly but performed like a champ. We gave nothing away to a well sailed highly optimised first 44.7 with a carbon rig and sails. A couple of times actually beating them to the windward mark.
Im not saying that furled headsails are optimal but there was much less of a performance loss than I expected
Ugly

But fast


The benchmark

did it stretch much ?

Hi Andy,
Very interesting! Is the first 44.7 the old Alacrity?

It's the old Alacrity, but it's not going like it used to according to the results I can find.

MB furler is efficient down to maybe half furled. At least it was when the sail was .new

Sorry Andy but you can't use a 44.7 setup like that as a benchmark. In that weight breeze you need a full main, blade #3 and some weight on the rail to get any pace. The headsail on your boat does look a bit average also. How would your boat have gone with a full main and blade headsail? Higher and faster???

Hey Andy,
did you find that it sailed better to windward on the starbord tac than the port tac ?
A few wraps on the furler with my heady and the boat becomes a dog to windward.

S and S no it didn't stretch it's low stretch DX1 cloth (at least I hope it didn't stretch)
Yep Shaggy it was the old Alacrity but to be fair we don't stand a chance against it on flat water it was only in that short swell and windy conditions that seem to suit the x Yacht much more.
Chris the owners only got the boat just before the Sydney to Hobart so they probably will get a lot more out of it this year.
Sure Frant I hear what your saying, a Number 3 and a full main might have been much faster although the full main might have been a bit much in the over 25knot periods and I'm not saying a furled headsail is as good as the right sized sail. But the best I have got out of my boat is 7.2 to to 7.5 knots sometimes touching 8 to windward and I was getting those numbers with the furled heady although pointing maybe a few degrees less.
I'm pretty sure the boat would have gone better with a nice new number 3 but my number 3 is an older Dacron job that's why we experimented with the furled No 1
Hi Jolene it was easier to get the speed on Port tack but that might have had more to do with the better angle to the waves.
I'm the first to admit I have heaps to learn about getting the most out of the boat and racing in general but I thought it was worth talking about because it was so surprising to everyone on the boat how small the performance loss was.

Select to expand quote

MorningBird said..
MB furler is efficient down to maybe half furled. At least it was when the sail was .new

New sails are a joy MB