roler jib or hank on with a aditional reef on a tiki 30?

[Bart]

Hi,

I need new sails so now is the moment to choose.

I have a roller jib. with witch i have two or 3 problems.

The most important one is the (lack of) profile when reefed. it has the shap of a shopping bag in the front part, witch makes it practicly unusable when sailing upwind in 18 knots wind and more.

I really want a good sail sailing upwind!

Is this because the sail is to old or is this the case with all roller jibs?

How do you think about a hank on jib, with a line to pul it down and a reef in it ( same style as the mainsail)

Better upwind performance, less stuff witch can fail.

You have to cover the jib wen done sailing ar put it inside..

Who has a roller jib and is happy with the reefed upwind performance?

thanks for your help!

Regards Bart

[Maxim Jurgens]

We have over the years used both methods. Whilst the idea of a hanked on jib with one ( or two ) tie -in reefs seems to be attractive ( retaining a reasonable sail shape when reefed, simplicity of a hanked on jib) in practice we find a roller reefed job more,well, practical. Esspecially when sailing shorthanded or solo it is no great joy going forward to tie in a reef in the jib esspecially during those circumstances where you will need that reef, i.e. strong winds, big waves . We also found that the way JWD proposes you tighten the luff of the jib  with a 3:1 tackle ( derde handje) does not work well if you retain the original forestay bridle. All you mainly achieve is that you pull the bottom of the forestay towards the mast . If you do not use the forestay bridle but have the forestay mounted on a beam then this derde handje does work. 

If you use a hanked on jib it is essential for windward performance that you have a tight luff, whether reefed or not . You could use a 2: 1 halyard or ,again , a derde handje which you attach to the normal 1:1 halyard for use in strong winds .

As said, we prefer a roller furler . Additionally we have our jibs (and also our main sails) cut flat. No belly, no camber, nothing. Plat als een pannekoek. Your sailmaker will probably protest ( mine does ) but it really does wonders for windward performance ( at least  on a wharram it does ) and it greatly reduces the bagginess of a partially rolled up jib, thus maintaining windward ability to a large extent.

When using a hanked on jib luff tension is mainly determined by how tight your halyard is . When you really crank it in you may even see the forestay go slack . When you have a roller reefer it is essential that you have a tight forestay at all times . Halyard tension is less critical when using a roller reefer although it should not be ignored .  

Lastly : another way of being satisfied with your windward performance is not to expect too much of it in the first place. Whatever you do with a wharram tiki you will never be a match for a modern performance cat with daggerboards . But then , you tiki has other advantages which they do not have.

Groetjes en succes

                  Maxim Jurgens

                    Siam Sailing, Phuket   

[Robert Sheridan]

We also have tried hanked and furler on our Tiki 30.  I had a hanked jib on my Hinemoa and liked it as when you let go the halyard it came down very quickly, the draw back was that it was flogging round your ears (unless you have a brailing line) when anchoring or recovering the anchor if you are not using the engine to manouver.  I agree we with the above about the downhaul, I have always just had a multipurchase on the tack for hanked jibs.  The other key to having a hanked a jib is that you need to have a bow beam and netting to stop it going in the water and enable you to reach it safely.

When our furler jib on our Tiki 30 was getting tired I converted it to hanked to test it using hanked as Helen and never used one; it confirmed the above plus the convenience of a roller furler so we now have a set up where we have a furling jib of lighter canvas and when the wind warrants it we furl it away completely and set a small hanked jib on a lazy forestay (which can also be used for the storm jib).