Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Anyone race a blade?? Im on the Southern Chesapeake, when the wind starts to hit 17-18 the fractionals (ie. a Merit, and #3 J-24s) toss blades up, and walk away from us, and my poor little Capri 25 ... Granted the wave action does me in when in the bay, but even when its a bit smoother in the James River, we don't have the umph....I went out with an Evolution sailmaker, we adjusted tons of stuff, including flying my #3 with a reef in the main..while I was happier, with the feel, when I got home I ran my GPS on my laptop, and there isnt much difference in speed...she advised a deck sweeping Blade, was wondering if anyone else has played with one?? Thanks in advance for any advice/thoughts/criticisms!!! All is welcome!
I don't sail a Capri 25, but race a lot on a variety of boats, and think a blade makes sense for sailing to windward in 20-30 kt winds. It'll be very easy to tack in strong winds, because it won't snag on the rigging. I day-sailed on a Jeanneau 33 with about a 100% blade in 30+ kt winds and only needed to use a winch handle for about two turns to get it trimmed correctly after a tack. I had the same experience in about the same wind on a Beneteau First 40.7. It's a very easy sail to handle in stronger winds.
The issue is the forward shrouds and how that affects sheeting angles. There are a couple boats with jib tracks inboard of the shrouds on the cabin top. 95% jibs with a tall hoist has been built by EP Sails and North Sails for those tracks.
I haven't built one yet but it's on my list. In 25+ I've found the best results come from my biggest crew hiking hard.
FWIW, I just got a new 140% #2. The plan is to carry that and a reef into the higher wind speeds. I'm assuming we'll point much better than the 110% #3.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.