How to make a great cruising genoa last even longer

by Adam Loory, UK-Halsey Sailmakers/Sail-World on 15 Apr 2011 Getting a great furling jib to be a better furling jib is what this article is all about, getting lightness and speed in a tougher sail. UK-Halsey Sailmaker's Passagemaker II is the ultimate sail for the cruising sailor who wants a sail designed to reef and keep its shape over a great range of wind conditions and sail configurations.

Its lighter-weight construction (than the Passagemaker I, which is made from Dacron), makes a sail that is light enough to set well in light air, while strong enough to hold together in heavy air. So what's the improvement? Adam Loory tells:

Our original Passagemaker II came from our experience with Tape-Drive racing sails. These original load path sails had proven themselves to be the most durable high tech sails on the market. They are light, strong and reasonably priced.

To make the Tape-Drive Passagemaker II better, we now offer an option of a Dacron chafe guard. Pictured above, this chafe guard, covers the after part of the sail that comes in contact with the mast and rigging and the lower part of the sail that comes in contact with the lifeline stanchions and the bow pulpit.

It can be installed on both sides of the sail as in the picture or on one side when the sail is made of a laminate that has a Dacron taffeta on the opposite side. In either case, the laminate film is completely covered by a woven material that is far better at absorbing the punishment the sail receives with each tack.

The new Passagemaker II also offers a number of options for combating the sun. Besides the old standby Sunbrella sewn to the exposed areas of the leech and foot, a recently introduced fabric called WeatherMax offers a lighter version with roughly the same protection. Both Sunbrella and Weathermax are available in a wide variety of colors. Even better from a weight point of view (if you care) is a UV treated Dacron which is stuck to the sail using a pressure sensitive adhesive. The makes a lighter, smoother cover but one with a shorter life span than those mentioned above.

Finally for those cruising sailors who want maximum performance, we offer a furling sock that is pulled up over a furled sail using a different halyard. The socks are slightly more expensive than a sewn on cover and are a little more bother in that they have to be hoisted and secured in place but they offer the ultimate in protection and allow your headsail to offer the ultimate in performance. The socks are made in colors that can match your mainsail cover.

Reefs are still part of what the Passagemaker II offers. As shown in the picture above, we provide reef patches to furl to so the corner load is distributed properly. We do not recommend roller reefing your genoa beyond a few turns of your furling unit in order to avoid overloading the material that remains exposed. It is important to remember that even though the sail has gotten smaller, the sheet load is much greater because wind load increases with the square of apparent wind velocity.

For more information about any sails you might need, go to the http://www.ukhalsey.com!UK-Halsey_Sailmakers_website