Coaxing extra speed from the boat downwind is not only a matter of sail trim. There comes a point where more radical steps are required if your symmetrical spinnaker is beginning to look a bit asymmetrical, or the genoa is more belly than bite. It’s time to renew the downwind sail wardrobe.
Most boats of a certain vintage were designed with three sails in mind: main, genoa and spinnaker. They allow you to cover every point of sail with reasonable efficiency, but there can be some chinks. Take my Sadler 34: her gigantic 150 per cent genoa goes from beating upwind in a light zephyr to broad reaching in a gale. Tacking so much canvas in anything over 10kts is hard work for the crew, and for the deck fittings.
And, when it comes to a run, I always struggle to decide between the undoubted speed and satisfaction of setting the spinnaker, or the inelegant but hassle-free option of letting the genoa take the strain.
Sail makers are not blind to these issues. Cruising chutes, gennakers and asymmetrics have emerged as alternatives to the symmetric spinnaker. Then there are mutant versions of racing sails, like the ubiquitous Code 0 for reaching. “Cruisers these days want simplicity and an easy solution for shorthanded sailing,” says Annabel Shove, UK dealer for Rolly Tasker. “Where family cruising is now on the increase it’s largely up to the parents to both skipper and crew the boat. With an asymmetric, you are filling that gap in light
