No question, it would be great to hear form the people who design these masts, but I don’t believe that in a normal boat, the mast would be weakened by dropping the main.
From a lay person point of view, when running, the main is not supporting the mast much. I can imagine that it does, to a degree, when you are close to wind (the main plus the main sheet provide an extra support of the mast from the aft). Marek From: CnC-List <cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com> On Behalf Of Morgan Ellis via CnC-List Sent: Monday, March 18, 2019 16:19 To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Morgan Ellis <mje.mjel...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List [EXTERNAL] Re: Headsail only in strong winds astern I would love to hear Mr. Ball chime in on this thread, if possible, from a mast design point of view. I have been told by a very experienced offshore sailor and the instructor of Offshore Sea Survival courses, that the masts are designed to have a mainsail hoisted and are not stable or properly supported without it. The instructor stated that if you were to drop the main because of high winds that you should be hoisting a storm sail in its place, if for no other reason than to support the mast. Since then the only time I will run on jib alone is in light air drifting around the harbour for an evening pleasure cruise. Regards, Morgan Ellis s/v Meandher
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
