Had a lovely sail to Keats Island from Horseshoe Bay – a short overnighter mid-week. This shot is mid-afternoon at Plumper Cove.
After I rounded the top of Bowen Isalnd, the wind in Howe Sound was about 14 knots on the nose and I tried a different sail combination – my 60% jib with a full main. Normally I’d have the 100% jib up with a reef in the main in this wind, but I wanted to see how well the smaller jib performs.
I was surprise to find the boat a lot flatter – even with the full main. Beating all the way up, Madsu was never heeled more than 15 degrees and we were doing a respectable 5 knots average SMG.
When North Sails cut this jib for me, they kept it fairly full low down, but the luff only goes about 2/3rd of the way up the forestay – so I does make sense that I’m getting less heel even with the full main.
I like this combination a lot, keeping the main full means more power through the chop. I do think with the 100% jib and a reef in the main I might have a bit more speed, but also a lot more heeling and not as much punch through the waves – or at least that’s my theory.