Stavanger, Thursday
I agree that the drift of Johanna is too short, but somehow we seem to get away with it. The tackline is a bungee so the whole sail can lift a bit when the sail swings out. Since the mast is rather overstrong for the 3 ton displacement, I think the yard, rather than the mast, is the weak part. The main tube is only 65 x 3.5mm so the sideways loads are quite high. However, since I reef in mid-F4, it is not a big problem. On both my next boats, Broremann and Frøken Sørensen, I have about 50cm drift, and that looks good.
The PJR’s requirement of a drift of 0.3 yard length would result in a 1.3m taller mast on Johanna than today - lots of dead weight. I think 0.3m taller mast would have been fine.
When studying photos of Arion, it seems that the drift is only slightly on the short side. I suggest you stand at the mast and sight up along it while under sail. If the bend is fairly even, up along it, I would not worry.
Arne