This is like asking which clothes you are going to wear. It all depends on the weather at the time. You put up a specific sail to suit the prevailing wind strength and the direction in which you wish to sail.
There are 3 groups of sails used on a Challenge yacht, which are :
- Mainsail
- large sail area, flown between the mast and the boom
- considered the work horse of any yacht, as it is flown all the time
- they do not carry a spare. Blow this and you're in BIG TROUBLE
- Headsails
- vary in sail area, flown between the mast and the bow or inner forestay
- used when sailing into the wind
- combination used depends on prevailing wind strength
- Spinnakers
- sometimes referred to as the 'kite'
- flown depending on wind strength
- promotional spinnakers usually incorporate the yacht sponsor logo
Each Challenge yacht carries 12 sails in it's wardrobe and all bar the mainsail (unless you are extremely unlucky i.e. dismasting) are stored in the forepeak, folded and bagged ready to go when the wind changes. These are :
- The Headsails
- Genoa, No. 1 Yankee, No. 2 Yankee and No. 3 Yankee
- Staysail, Storm Staysail and Trysail
- The Spinnakers
- Promotional, Lightweight, Medium and Heavyweight
The answer to the question 'Which Sail Now ?' depends on reading the prevailing wind conditions correctly and deciding what you want from the sails you are putting up e.g. Do you want speed or direction or both ?. Are you looking to get ahead of the opposition by keeping a bigger sail area up for a little bit longer ? OR are you trying to conserve your sails so that you have a full set of sails to choose from all the way around the world ?.....
The byword here is 'Think of your sails like car tyres. Use them in the proper way and they will last longer. Push them over the limit and you'll blow them !'
Note : Repairs cost time, replacement attracts time penalties.
|
