What size Jenny?

[brackish]

The 23 I acquired came with a working RF jib, which the previous owners believed to be a 110 or 115.  I'm sailing in mostly light to moderate conditions so will be adding a larger headsail.  Thinking 150.  A minor issue but would appreciate comments from those that are using jennies.  What size and weight?  Can you trim to good balance on all points?  is the stock track properly positioned and long enough to get reasonably good sheeting angles.  Also source.  North direct had a good price and I've purchased several sails from North many years ago but that was before "direct" was part of the picture. 

Thanks,

Frank

[mike gartland]

Welcome to the Com-Pac fleet....you will love your CP-23.

As for gennys...my CP-23 came with a 155....weight unknown but relatively heavy.  Here where I sail along the Gulf coast it was fine on the mid-summer days when the winds went elsewhere but was often too much sail and resulted in having to partially reef it or the main...I have the CDI Roller Furler on the genny, when the winds got up around 15 knots.  The sail shape and trim problems with the 155 were as follows: (1) a partially furled headsail does not have anything close to an ideal shape in my opinion....it ends up with a series of longitudinal wrinkles very alongside the furled section on the forestay and the draft of the sail is in the wrong place.  Furthermore, furling places the exposed sail area higher on the forestay, the more it is furled where it catches the strongest wind and partially defeats the purpose of the reefing....at least it would be more advantageous to have as much of the area as low as possible in the ideal case.  Bottom line is that the sail isn't as efficient as a smaller sail that can be fully unfurled and adopt the shape given in by the sail maker.  (2) If you rig the jib sheets as described in the CP-23 Owners Manual you will see that the preferred path is outside the two lower shrouds and inside the cap shroud.  With this arrangement a 150 or 155 will hit the spreaders and fold over long before it is fully unfurled....a really unseaman-like appearance and aerodynamically will be like applying a speed brake....not something you want to do (talk about poor sail shape...).   The alternative, of course, is to rig the sheets outboard of all shrouds which can allow you to fly the genny around the spreaders but still not without some sail shape distortion and chafing and, probably more importantly, robbing you of the option to sail as close on wind as you would like.  Having dealt with these issues for over a year I had a 115 made which I like a lot, can keep it fully unfurled up to 20 knots (usually with a single reef in the main) and maintain good sail shape and trim all around.  Above 20 knots I'm usually running with reefing on both sails and don't need to worry about the boat moving at less than hull speed no matter how poorly the genny is set.   My 115 was cut to utilize the original genny tracks and I have made no adjustment to their location.  The cars can be set to apply the proper sheeting angle within a large range of furling and I haven't felt a need to tinker with them....but then, I'm not prone to race anyone so others might disagree with me.

If you think you truly do need a 150 or 155 in your area you might want to try and borrow something a little smaller... a 135???....from someone and see it if fits your needs.  You will have a much easier time keeping a properly trimmed sail and will make the sails work more efficiently.   Good luck.

(If you Google "WindRush" it may make it to a site where I've posted some pics of the 115 in use.)

Mike
WindRush

[Craig Weis]

Never too big. Think 155%, or 55% past the centerline of the mast. On my boat that's just about at the end of the fully closed companionway hatch.
Anyone fly an asymmetrical spinnaker?
skip.

[brackish]

Thanks for the replies.

Mike, I'll be sailing in similar conditions a little east of you.  My last boat had a 150 but the difference is that it had inboard chainplates and it was not a problem  to sheet in to within an inch of the spreaders and maintain shape.  It was a hank on and we rarely ever had to change headsails particularly in the summer, but it was relatively easy to do so if necessary.  We were often wishing we had more.  After three boats, my first experience with RF, maybe a different world.

Probably be best to get a little experience with this boat before making the final size decision.

We did have an asymmetrical, and it got a lot of use in light air conditions coming home from the GINS barrier islands with prevailing winds SSW.  It was a practical sail for my conditions and will probably end up getting one for the 23.

Good pictures, notice you have mid-boom sheeting.  Did you change or did the boat come to you with that arrangement?

[mike gartland]

Frank

The mid-boom sheeting came with the boat....but I really like it.  Somewhere else on this site I've posted details about it...can't remember which thread....so you might have a look around for it.   It may have been connected with a question about boomvangs....not sure.  If you have any specific questions about pluses and minuses and can't find my earlier post let me know and I will try to have another go at it.

Mike
WindRush

[ka8uet]

Up here in Northern Ohio, my stock 110% jib works just fine.  I have a hank on, to which I added a downhaul.  If I were to add a light air sail, I would probably opt for an asymetrical spinnaker rather than a genoa.  Of course, the chances of me spending that kind of money are slim to none, and slim left town a LOONNGG time ago!