I've been debating as to what is OK and what is not OK in caring for a new jib I just got for my Hobie 20.
My previous jib was a rag, and I always kept it furled on the boat lift at the lake. No jib snorkel, no taking down, up and furled all the time.
Now that I have a new jib, my plan is to put it up on Saturday, leave it furled for Sunday, then take it down and roll it up from the foot and store it in the bag during the week when I'm not sailing. Other people I know furl it, then hoist a jib snorkel over it to protect it from the sun.
My thought on that method was that keeping it furled all the time would cause the sail fabric to develop a
memory
which would cause the jib shape, especially at the luff to be all screwed up.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
Fair winds,
Tim Johnson
Hobie 20 #541
Bald Eagle Yacht Club, Fleet 52
White Bear Lake, MN
Tim,
I'm surprised no one has offered an opinion on this one yet.
Referring to our exchange a few weeks ago.... I've been trailering with furled jib with no problems, and I'm CONVINCED that a nice careful not-too-tight furl causes much less sail fatigue than manhandling into a roll after taking it down. I haven't noticed any distortion yet, but like I said I've only been doing it for a few weeks. my bottom line: even if it does cause some amount of distortion, it's worth it to me for the reduced setup/breakdown time. I do think that for YOUR beach-based setup, you're right to take the jib down for the weekdays, if only to reduce the mass and windage and therefore reduce the abuse your rig would endure if a puffy windstorm would come along during the week.
I have experienced some sail damage, but I doubt it had anything to do with the issue of furling..... after a particularly harsh crash/capsize that required righting the boat TWICE because I was too impatient to point the boat upwind first and got the thing blown back over the top of me... I noticed a 12
tear in the foot of my kevlar jib, right at the top edge of the
luff tape". my sense is that this area was weakened by the near-continual flapping that starts whenever the wind hits 12kts or so, and that it just let go at some point in the righting exercise.
Anyone have any advice on a simple repair, and possible remedy for the larger problem, BESIDES having the sail recut to allow vertical battens?
I'm surprised that I've only received one reply, too. Here's to hoping more people will reply!
Fair winds,
Tim Johnson
Hobie 20 #541
Bald Eagle Yacht Club, Fleet 52
White Bear Lake, MN
SailNet has some good articles on sail care, materials, storage, etc. UV is horrible to most any sail material - including dacron. The less exposure your sail get's to UV the better. Probably not much help but since nobody else would chime in, I figured what the heck!
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/gearandmaintenance/sails/index.cfm
[color]Jake
[color]Nacra 5.2 (2112)
Tim,
I used to have a roller furler on my Hobie 20, and ran my boat much like an oversized 18. I never really noticed any distortion in my jibs, but my first one was one of those Elliot-Patterson bags, so it probably didn't count anyway. The replacement Hobie made jib seemed much better.
One trick I've seen the NACRA guys do that I thought made sense. When rolling the jib for storage during the week, they would roll it around a 2" dia. length of PVC pipe. This seemed to avoid those first, too tight rolls that make the foot of the jib curl up. Gotta admit I never did it though, wouldn't have fit in my sailbox that way.
Hope this helps!
Tim,
When I sail with a crew I have a 4 inch PVC tube with a ties each end.
I tie the tube to the Tac and Clew of the jib before I take it down.
As it comes down I roll it up on the tube. This way the cloth does not get creased (which knocks the stabilising resin out. I can throw my jib into the bottom of my sailbox and it still doesn't get creased and lasts much longer.
Tim, I usually take the jib down unless its for a weekend race. The hoisting of the jib is not that big a deal and allows the inspection when you're putting it back up. As for storage I usually lay it out flat and roll it up fairly loose so as not to put any creases into it. Even my old jib is holding up pretty good. I wouldn't keep the racing sail furled on the stay because it would probably be wound too tight for long periods of time. I've seen sails like that. uggh.
I hope this helps.
Clayton
H20 #795