SAILS
Neil ‘Jaffa’ Harrison, sales manager, Doyle Sails Europe: “Bojar is
quite unusual in her rig, having a fractional^3 / 4 headstay, but
full-width masthead shrouds and a topmast forestay, on a very
tapered mast. This limits the size of her foresail. It was obvious
the current headsail was under-sized and lacked the punch
needed. We produced a new No 1, as big as could fit in, the mould
shape developed from a World Champion Etchell jib! We replaced
the mainsail with a lighter-weight option, flatter than the previous
sail so it could be sheeted on harder without stalling. The
inventory was completed with two more headsails covering the
racing wind range of 0-35 knots. All the upwind sails were
manufactured utilising our Stratis membranes, which boast
reduced weight, greater longevity and greater shape-holding.
With a natural technora as a base fibre and ultra-light taffetas as
the finish, the combination provided a pastel yellow overall
appearance, which for most traditionalists is more sympathetic to
the eye than perhaps a bright yellow or black sail. We developed
a number of sails to assist in the downwind performance ranging
from a CIM-compliant Code Zero hanked on to the out forestay,
to a masthead A2, which this season we even started flying from
the pole, as well as a couple in between. This winter’s jobs list
includes a new pole to save the need for a muscleman on the
foredeck and removing the furling system to
enable deck-sweeping jibs to be fitted. I’m
still working on the idea of replacing the
lever-style runner system with a winch-
operated version but Andrew is resisting that
for traditional values.”
Andrew Pearson, owner of Bojar: “Bojar had previously been
fitted out in Norway, based on 10-year-old sail designs and using
materials that were relatively heavy. It took two people to hoist the
mainsail. Meanwhile the headsails were quite small. So overall we
had issues with design, weight and shape. Doyle came on board,
sailed the boat and produced an analysis showing how they could
improve the performance, make sail handling easier and improve
her IRC rating. Over 2013 we began to change the sails, as Jaffa
describes here. We had gone to Panerai British Classic Week in
2012 and were 12th out of about 30 boats. In 2014 we were in the
top five. This year, in the Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentennial
Regatta, we got a 1st and a 2nd.
“It has completely transformed the boat. She is stunning to sail,
perfectly balanced and with the sail trim right you need no
pressure on the helm upwind. It’s easier to maximise our sail
angle into the wind and easier to helm between 160° and 170°.
The mainsail is just under 58 per cent of the weight of the
previous one and is stronger and a better shape. Crew handling is
easier and we can sail with three fewer people on deck. At Cowes
we were racing with Dorade, Stormy Weather, Argyll and
Tomahawk, three of which are bigger than us, and we were half a
boat-length ahead of them on the line. New materials have to be
integrated carefully with wooden boats. We are
using Bojar’s original mast, a single piece of
spruce that has no through-mast fittings, only
wire strops and eyes. You have to be careful
putting a big new kite on there, as originally it
would have been light cotton.”CASE STUDY
The racing yacht
How new sails saw 1937 Anker-designed 10-M Bojar
take on the big guns of the classic regatta fleetBojar, far right, seen here at Cowes,
is able to out-point her rivals“We were half
a boat-length
ahead of them on
the line”