The first time I sailed
FanShi, I was shocked to discover that she had significant lee helm, particularly on starboard tack and up to and including a F4 breeze. I spent a lot of time and effort in trying to eradicate this, having neither the money nor the energy (to say nothing of the facilities) to build a new sail. I eventually got her to sail so that she would go to windward quite nicely in F2 and above on port tack and in F3 and above on the starboard tack. However, as someone who would always sail in F2 to F3 by choice, it was disappointing that turning to windward was all too often an exercise in frustration. Another issue, but one that I tended to overlook, was that while the sail would set acceptably with one reef and would work well with just the top two panels set, with 2, 3 or 4 reefs it set increasingly badly if I was trying to close-haul. Indeed, in F6, it was impossible to get the sail to sheet in, in a satisfactory manner. However, I so rarely attempt sailing close-hauled in those conditions, that I kept forgetting about it. (I did think of altering the sheeting system which might have helped, but would not have cured the problem, which was multi-faceted and also involved the battens at the forward end of the sail starting to dive below the boom). I am a coastal sailor, these days, ruled by weather forecasts and disinclined for discomfort, so I tolerated the sail for nearly three years.
However, a couple of months ago I was sailing on a close reach to go through a passage between an island and the mainland, in the top of a F3. As I approached, a rain squall approached and the wind picked up rapidly to F5 gusting F6. I dropped three reefs in the main and tried to sheet in, only to be confronted with an untidy array of cloth and battens, which despite my best efforts with YHP, LHP and sheet, refused in any way to conform to my idea of a well-reefed, close-hauled sail. I took the hint, made a fair wind of it and had a pleasant romp to Moturua, where I anchored. However, that was the last straw. I didn't trust my own abilities to design a sail for this boat, not in the least because it had to be a different sail plan from the 'standard' H/McL sail to overcome some other issues that had been annoying me. So I consulted the Oracle (Paul Thompson), who I knew had been itching to design a sail for FanShi. We texted and emailed back and forth until we agreed on something that not only satisfied my practical/aesthetic demands, but was something that the Oracle was sure would work. I reckoned I should be able to use the local Boating Club as a sail loft, although it would mean tidying it to immaculate order most days.
However - and this is another story for another day - FanShi had to be hauled out and I spent a month doing various jobs to her, at a substantial cost financially, mentally and physically. I couldn't face taking on another major project, so did a deal whereby Paul would build the sail and I in the not-too-distant future, would scrape back and revarnish his boat.
The Oracle worked his socks off to get my sail ready for when I was to go back in the water and we bent it on rather speedily one morning before the wind got up and made working on it impossible. I was up at first light the following morning to finish the job and made a few more adjustments at anchor, after we splashed.
The next day, I got my anchor and set off with the engine ticking over and only the top three panels raised. With a fair ebb and a beam wind, we had enough canvas, but when we headed W, the wind came in from ahead and I had to raise the rest of the sail. This required a bit more grunt than I'd anticipated, but everything was tight and the antichafe patches on the battens seemed to have a bit of friction (already this cloth seems to be getting 'polished' and more slippery). However, due to the standing yard parrel on the previous sail, whose role in life was to drag the sling point closer to the mast, the old sail had been hard work to raise after the first three panels, so this as no worse. And I do have a winch. The wind came and went and I had to dodge the car ferries and various yachts and launches, who appeared to assume I was motor sailing, but eventually we got to clearer water and I could start playing with the sail. Obviously I needed to adjust the LHP - we had creases that weren't going to go away. Apart from that, however, the panels were 'inflating' nicely in the light breeze - about F2 - and we were making good progress on port tack. Thus far so good, but of course it was starboard tack that had been the major problem. We were laying nicely down the Channel, which tends to be quite busy, so I decided to go out into the bay to see how this sail actually worked. In fact, it was hard to tell because the wind was constantly shifting and altering its strength. However, I did ascertain that FanShi would now tack predictably from port to starboard - even through a wake. This had been a very hit and miss business before - more miss than hit. The lee helm was minimal and undoubtedly I need to alter the sheet tension, but with the wind so variable, it was hard to tell just how much. Anyway, the wee trial was promising and I was still very tired, so I put the helm up and ran down to the mooring I use.
I made several adjustments that the Oracle suggested for his sail. I took the standing end of the halliard and tied it about 40 cm abaft the strop on the yard and I tied the LHP to the top batten and passed it through a block secured to the same batten. This seems to have just about eradicated the creases and importantly for me, because I hate a highly-stressed rig, the LHP needs a firm rather than a hard tug on it, to get rid of the creases. They YHP is redundant until there are two reefs in, the block hanging in docile fashion about 200 mm abaft the mast.
In subsequent sails I have discovered that FanShi will sail herself close-hauled up to F4, when she starts to require a light hand on the tiller to stop her rounding up. I am sure that tweaking the sheet would get her balanced again, but in this instance I was beating to windward so wanting to sail as close to the wind as was realistic. She tacks sure-footedly and looking at the wake, seems to be making less leeway. I'm still not sure of her tacking angle - the breeze is rarely constant around here, with all the islands affecting it - and I haven't been out into the Bay proper to see if I could find a steadier breeze. It's academic, anyway - I'm happy with how she is beating and if she doesn't point wondrously high, she gets along at a good clip. A short, fat, shallow boat is never going to sail circles round a modern pointy-rig yacht. Off the wind, of course, she is a delight and still holds her course for minutes at a time, as long as the sea is flat.
A couple of weeks ago I was sailing on a close reach to got through a passage between an island and the mainland in the top of a F3. As I approached, a rain squall approached and the wind picked up rapidly to F5 gusting F6. I dropped two reefs in the main, sheeted in and FanShi scooted up to windward, happily following the gusts and requiring only a light touch on the helm. And the sail set beautifully. In spite of the rain and the wind, I found myself actually enjoying the sail! We went through the passage and carried on to my anchorage of choice, where we sailed in and dropped the hook. A few days later I sailed back in glorious conditions, in company with a friend in his Trekka. I had to reef the considerably larger FanShi, so as not to leave him dead in the water, but we were still just about sailing circles round him.
The sail, of course, is beautifully made with detail work beyond anything I would have done. All in all, the Oracle has done us proud and if the sail isn't quite as pretty as its predecessor: well, handsome is as handsome does. It's quite wonderful to have a sail that gives me confidence and that behaves itself exactly as I would expect a junk sail to behave.
My aplogies to Paul for taking so long to write this up. He can answer any technical queries far better than I. I shall, however, keep this thread live as I discover more about my beautiful new sail.