J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment What Sails are Fast & Last Long?

If I am reading Benz's reply correctly, he is saying he did indeed share the sailmaking info within the North infrastructure but the result was a funky sail. I guess I'd ask my North sailmaker if he could straight up take the order, and give me an exact Benz sail, just like Team Z. And service it.

Is it really a surprise to learn that there is a difference between a sail made by Benz Faget at his loft (assuming that is the case) and one designed by him but manufactured in Stevensville, Milford, Nevada, or Sri Lanka?

From what I understand Benz is using a different design software than the standard North loft and there is some work involved in getting his design into the North design software. My loft here in Marblehead has committed to getting his design into the North design software so they can use it in the the North molds. The question becomes how well the designs are migrated to the standard North software on wheter the sails are exact copies.

Now please remember this is what I am being told. The truth may very.

David
#397

Dave,

The question about the spinnaker...

When you cross sheet the #1, what do you use for spinnaker winches? The halyard winches? or somehow switch to the secondaries?

Does anyone have photos of the "Lopez" setup on either a J30 or J24?

Rob,
Here is the product from the layline site:
http://www.layline.com/prodinfo.asp?number=J24LBH

David

Having used the Lopez blocks on a J/24, it's doubtful they would be effective cross sheeting a J/30. The setup depends on quickly trimming all the slack out of the sheet before it loads up. That's going to be much harder to do with the larger more powerful J/30 sail.

Thanks dbow for the link.

I see your point Bob, loads are much higher in our genny.

On the J29, we have two trimmers. When the 1st trimmer breaks the old sheet, the 2nd trimmer is taking in the new sheet very fast under little load. He then takes one wrap on the leeward primary, jumps to the high side with the tail takes 2 wraps on the windward primary, the #1 trimmer is waiting with the handle, slaps it in and trims in the last 2-4 inches under normal load.

If we are in light-moderate air (a lot of the time here in Detroit!), the #2 trimmer pre-loads the new primary with wraps and handle, and stays on the low side for fine trim.

No extra hardware involved, and the weight shifting occurs so fast (during middle of the tack when the boat is flat) that no time/speed is lost.

There is some side load on the winch, but the deck is very solid there, and I don't see that being an issue with most boats.

I also agree the loads are a bit much particulary since this is most important when the wind is up which means the loads are up.

I am still wondering if you can use a large standup block at the far aft end of the genoa track as a turning block to the windard primary?

David
#397

Since I started this thread, I thought it would be appropriate to let everyone know what the decision was. I want to thank everyone who weighed in, plus the other good discussions on cross sheeting, etc.

I corresponded with Benz Faget in New Orleans and my local North Sails rep in RI, Henry Little. Henry spoke with Benz at the North annual sales meeting and was able to work out the transfer of information so I can work through the local North loft in Portsmouth, RI. I've bit the bullet and am getting a new main, #1 and spinnaker (Merry Christmas!!!). The #1 will be a Kevlar Tri-Radial. I couldn't justify the added expense of 3DL, and they still need to transfer Benz's design to 3DL. Henry explained that the entire computer controlled mold used in the 3DL process is tied up if it is making a small sail or a large sail, thus the sailmaker would prefer to keep the machine busy making larger sails where they get a better return on use of the equipment. The 3DL premium cost on our "small" J/30 sails is effectively paying for the unused portion of the mold that is tied up during the construction of a smaller sail. Another interesting point was that the 3dr process is temporarily on hold while they update software for the 3dr machine in Toronto. Henry explained that this was a huge capital investment by North and they want to make sure it is producing the designs correctly. I suspect that the same pricing analogy for 3dr sails would apply for J/30 designs once this process is up and running again - we'll see.

Henry is going to cleanup Benz's tuning guide and make it available on the North Sails web site, along with the ability to order Benz's "special sauce" sails. I'm not sure what the timing is for all this, but I would suspect that by the spring, this will be available for all the J/30 sailors to take advantage of.

For Benz - if you are reading this forum I'd like to thank you for sharing your designs. You've had great accomplishments with Team Zephyr and have been a positive influence to the J/30 fleet. I want to buy you a beer or two next time we sail in an event together.

For the rest of the J/30 sailors - look at David Bows call for boats at the NOOD Regatta in Marblehead 26-29 July 2007. We're hoping to get a good turnout and I want to try out my new sails there!

Happy Holidays to Everyone,
Bill - Rhapsody J/30 #348


[This message has been edited by whk (edited 12-22-2006).]