june/july 2018cruisingworld.com76
SEAMANSHIPI
t was about midnight, and
we were barreling along on
a close reach through bois-
terous seas in a gusty 20-knot
breeze. I was on watch aboard
a Saba 50 catamaran, and
while checking the sail trim, I
couldn’t help but be in awe of
the forces at play — particu-
larly on the massive mainsail.
It’s impressive.
With these forces, the sails
aboard a modern cruising
cat need to be up to snuff. If
you’re in the market for new
sails, what are the details that
you should be looking for? I
checked in with sailmakers
who specialize in multihulls
to fi nd out what they would
recommend for a midsize
production cruising cat, such
as a Leopard 44 or Lagoon 42.
Let’s start with the main.
The mainsail is the driving
sail aboard catamarans, and a
backstayless rig, which you’ll
fi nd on most cats, allows for a
large amount of roach. These
massive sails have different
requirements from their
cousins aboard monohulls,
which impacts what materials
and techniques will be used to
build the sail.
“Due to the higher sail loads,
we would go up to a heavier
weight of material than a
similar-size monohull,” says
Tim Yourieff, of Neil Pryde
Sails. “Also, multihulls tend tohave very swept-back spreaders
and shrouds, which tend to
chafe on the battens when the
mainsail is eased when sailing
downwind. It is very important
to reinforce the batten pockets
where they come in contact
with the shrouds.”
Zach Mason, a multihull
specialist for North Sails, adds,
“I would recommend a high-
roach full-batten mainsail for
daysailing and cruising. Reefs
should be appropriate for boat
setup. If only two reefs can beeasily set up, the second reef
should be in the third-reef
location, with the fi rst reef
splitting these.”
Looking to improve your
speed, especially in light air?
“For customers seeking more
performance, we could build a
square-top main,” says Mason.
“But that requires additional
hardware to lower and raise
the gaff batten. It’s important
to make sure that the existing
hardware can be adapted or
new hardware can be installed
to make raising and lowering
of the gaff batten easy. Overall
though, square tops offer
better sail shape and allow the
top of the sail to twist off as
a puff hits.” This unloads the
sail, without someone having
to immediately ease the main-
sheet or traveler.
Which sailcloth you
choose is highly dependent
on your budget, cruising
plans and how you sail.
“Cross-cut Dacron still offers
the best value in cost and
longevity,” Yourieff says. “WeLooking to update the sails on your cat? We checked with the experts to find out what you need.
BY JENNIFER BRETT2 MADE FOR A MULTIHULL
TIP
On a multihull,
sailhandling systems need
to be sufficiently robust,
so a high-quality mainsail
luff car system is a must.Without a backstay, modern
multihull rigs can accom-
modate a sail plan that
includes a high-roach main,
such as aboard this Balance
451 cat (top). The Anomaly
Headboard, available from
Doyle Sailmakers, allows
for easy hoisting and furling
of a square-top main’s gaff
batten.