Sail Question

[JBoyle]

I'm a new owner of a '80 Compac 16.  

Question;

Is there any reason I couldn't/shouldn't use the sails from a west wright potter 15?

[JBC]

Leaving aside the question of whether Commodore Bob will increase this site's initiation fee for flying alien sails on a ComPac, it would probably work.  That said, I would note three things to check:
1.  Reduced overall sail area, depending on jib configurations.
2.  Check deck angle of jib/Genoa to make sure WWP headsail will set well.
3.  Note that WWP main is loose-footed, CP main not.  Both are same length though, so might work ok.

Jett

[JBoyle]

I knew I was going to get a "blasphemy" reply, but you served it with class.

Thanks for the insight!

[mattman]

Hang on I am doing some thinking.....looks like the p measure on the Potter main is 13.5 and the Cp16 16.3 so the potter main will be short on the hoist. If you have the sails already not going to hurt anything but you will be under powered. The Potter is at 98 sq/ft and the cp at 120 sq/ft.  I would think the potter's sail weight would be maybe 4 oz. at best which is a little light for my tastes. Being loose footed will make no difference but you will likely need a purchase on the outhaul. Best of luck. 

[NateD]

Again, if you have the sails, no reason not to give it a shot and they will probably be fine, but undersized.

If you are looking for a good argument to use them: The shorter main sail (if fully hoisted) will raise the boom and give you more headroom or room for a bimini while sailing. The early CP16 had quite a bit of weather helm, in later models Hutchins reduced the size of the main sail, so arguably the P15 mainsail could be an improvement in sail balance from the stock size.

If you are looking for an argument not to use the sails: If the main sail is too undersized relative to the head sail you could end up with dangerous lee helm, so obviously you need to buy nice new sails. ;-)