As a sail is rolled up on a roller furler the sail shape changes. Looking at the sail as a wing airfoil the thickness to length ration gets larger unless there is a wad of foam in the rolled up sail to absorb the extra cloth.
The ultimate effect of this loss of airfoil shape is the sail looses its efficency as a wing and begins to act like a bag hanging in the wind. I've had one day where I was too lazy to change sails and tried sailing with a mostly furled genoa in 20 plus conditions. It is quite amazing how badly the boat behaves and unnerving to have lee helm on the tiller too. Mark Tamblyn -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Patrick R Ford Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 3:49 PM To: IC27A Subject: catalina27-talk: Headsail Listers, Article on furling and headsails in the August Mainsail Technical Pull out section. There is a standard headsail and reefing headsail.My sail came with the boat. How can I visually tell if it is reefing or standard ? Why is a reefed, non reefing sail " very bad in high winds " ? Pat Ford Seabiscuit 3692 Port Washington, WI
