Last winter we had a lot of heavy wind here in SWFL. I mistakenly thought the 155% 3DL -- "Max apparent wind 23 kts" by the way -- would be able to take reefing. In one race we had gusts to 38 ... I was double reefed main and perhaps 1/3 out on a 155% ... and other regattas that were ~25 true with reefing to suit. and full weight crew. (Main is 7.8 oz fully battened.) Vee Jay is basically a "cruising" set-up J30.
that was a brand new sail now showing signs of filament separation along the luff. So OK we have a 7 month racing season down here and we used that sail for practice as well.
toward the end of the year I went back to my heavy duty dacron 145 and that sailed better in heavy wind with minor reefing than the 3DL over reefed.
If you talk to the sail guys ... "well the 3DL's a furling sail -- just can't reef it like a dacron."
My standard sail set for off shore NPT for 15 years was a full battened heavy main and heavy #2 ... that and a couple of death wish crew guys 10 years younger than me. We didn't race -- we went for the adrenaline rush.
#2 goes on main track no problem.
Final advice: If you don't plan on having 1200 pounds on the rail ... get a 145% for offshore ... if its a 3DL do light reefing then switch to #3
However in light air you will not be competitive with the 145% as the PHRF corrections don't relate to real world.
