I'm sure some of you will recall, in a recent but lost forum discussion, I asked the question of the legality of using hanks and slides on sails under the class rules. I currently have a roller furling system for the jib but would like to go to hanks. I also have two mains, one with boltrope only, the other with slides.

As for headsails, the headfoil/tuffluff system makes the most sense for pure racing but can be a little tricky for shorthanded sailing. Roller furling systems, while really safe and convenient, require sails that are cut differently than the optimum dimensions (deck vs drum mounting) and are a pain to change between racing and cruising configurations.

There were many responses to my original question about the legality of hanks and slides and as I recall that they were determined to be illegal under rule 1.3, "No alternatives or modifications are permitted unless explicitly stated in these rules ". This caused some concern as a number of skippers now race one-design and have mains equipped with slides.

As hanks and slides represent the type of ease of handling and safety mentioned in rule 1.1,
"The J/30 is a one design class, created to fulfill the diverse needs of recreational sailors such as cruising, one design racing, day sailing, handicap and offshore racing. These rules are intended to preserve important design characteristics: ease of handling, low cost of ownership, safety and comfort."

I'd like to continue this dialogue and investigate modifying the rules to allow hanks and slides as alternatives.

Obviously the chief concern over such an amendment would be any significant performance advantage that might be realized by the changes. I think the argument for slides is a no-brainer. Since they only add to weight aloft and create a less-clean leading edge on the main they are more likely to detract from performance than add to it.

Hanks are another story. It could be reasonably argued that they represent a performance improvement through less weight aloft than a foil or that luff shape (tension) can be more precisely controlled. It could also be argued the other way - that hanks degrade performance by presenting a less clean leading edge (hanks, forestay, scallops, etc.) or that it takes longer to do headsail changes during a race.

My gut feeling is that all these effects are small and probably even out in the wash. I'd really like to hear what the rest of the association thinks. Please sound your horns

Jeff Sammis
#295

Jeff makes some good points. Mainsail slides do make raising and lowering the main much easier and safer while not adding to the performance of the sail. I have been planning on having track slides added to my current main when I retire it for cruising. Its that much easier to handle shorthanded. As for performance, slides arguably reduce the performance of the main by allowing an equalization of pressure through the gap between the sail and the mast. Mainsail slides should be allowed.

As for headsail hanks, they also make sail handling easier by keeping the entire luff attached to the forestay (no worries about dragging the sail in the water). The reduced friction makes raising and lowering easier. Lowering is so much easier that the sail pretty much drops itself negating the need to have the foredeck crew go forward to pull the sail down. The performance change between hanks and headfoil is debatable from each side and is probably negilible. The real gain is in keeping weight (crew) off the bow and reducing weight aloft. The J24 fleet saw the improvement and all changed over to hanks some years ago. After all, how often in a race do you actually need to change headsails? I would predict that allowing hanks on the headsail would result in many, if not all, boats modifying their sails and removing the headfoil. More debate is needed on this issue.

If you are looking for ease of sail handling and racing performance, I'd look at the furlers with the removable drums. You can furl your cruising sail and remove the drum and use your racing sails. There is an increase in weight aloft. But isnt there a trade-off for everything? Notice that most of the new one-designs come with furlers as part of the class rules.

In the old forum, several members was quickly corrected me on mainsail slides. I didn't realize it, but mainsails with slides previously measured in at several J/30 NA's. I'm certain at least one boat sailed in the 1999 NA's with them. This is one of the many issues where a ruling has been made, but our Class Rules have not been updated to reflect an accepted practice. I'll leave that topic for another thread, coming soon.

The requirement for a luff groove system basically precludes the use of hanked on headsails. I'm opposed to removing the luff groove as contrary to the basic one-design character of the boat. It's really a question of big vs. small and we are in the middle range. J/24s used to have luff grooves but made them optional; I don't exactly know when or why. Their two headsails make pre-start choice is pretty clear-cut so you don't see anything but hanks now. The three J/30 headsails make a change more likely. We change upwind in round-the-buoys racing once or twice a season, more often in the two or three distance races we do. But for most day races, hanks would provide an advantage.

While allowed in our rules, I've never seen anyone race one-design with roller furling. PHRF handicappers credit 6 seconds/mile for roller furling which is at least a couple places in most races. I'd peg the weight aloft at 1-2 second per mile, which is enough for me. As for the concept of effects that 'wash out'—I'd prefer not contemplating that any more than absolutely necessary. I want to line up against other J/30s that are as alike as our rules allow.


[This message has been edited by Bob Rutsch (edited 04-27-2000).]

I appreciate getting this great feedback so soon. There are a couple of comments I'd like to add to what has been discussed.

First, with regard to the suggestion that the fordeck crew would not have to go forward to pull down the jib when dropped, three years of foredeck work on J24's tells me different. The jib always needs some help getting to the deck requiring the foredeck monkey to go forward at least momentarily. However,they probably aren't up there as long with hanks because they don't have to rig the bead into the feeder and groove for the next hoist.

On roller furlers,I think at least part of the PHRF allowance comes from the fact that when sails are rigged for furling the tack is attached above the drum resulting in a significant gap between foot and deck and a consequent loss of performance. I believe that removing the drum and attaching the tack at the stem (as I do for racing) would result in loss of the allowance as the furling feature would not work.

And please, let's not dismiss the discussion of the performance merits of luff tapes and hanks. It's question on which the whole issue of allowance of hanks rests (and one I've been curious about for a long time).

-Jeff

I think it makes good sense to legalize slugs for the main. The first thing that I did when I bought my boat was to add slugs and lazyjacks to enable me to deal with putting away the boat singlehanded. I don't think they have bothered us in our racing, and for cruising it works beautifully. Reefing singlehanded also becomes a simple matter if you have slugs. Let's go through the motions and make sure they are adopted by the class rules.

I don't feel that hanks on the luff of the jib provide much of an advantage. Sailing shorthanded the feeder on the foil does a good job, and I like the clean luff without snaphooks to catch the spinnaker. When I sail shorthanded, I find that it is easy enough to drop the #3 on deck. Personally I would not bother to legalize snaphooks.