Hej Arne. That’s the idea. I will consider putting som grommets in for sure when we get there.. thanks. 

David. Yes i understand the way to increase balance on the sail you had on Footprints.

On a "Arne" type sail though, that might not be quite so effevtive.

Arne. some sort of Vikingjunk  Square rigger. Full circle..

Big rudder & Centerboard: Check.

I see your point, Frederik. Still, I would rather choose the Chinese way of doing it. They always had a big rudder, and they could also raise the cb. for downwind work. I haven't seen a single Chinese rig which appeared to be shifting the sail back and forth.

One alternative is to make a fully symmetric squaresail with JR technology. If it turns out to be possible for one person (plus a wind-vane) to operate it, it would be a really interesting sail for offshore work. Some development work would surely be needed before one learns to control a squaresail.
Goodbuye to gybing...


Arne

Frederik, I bet that should be doable. However, even with my unbalanced sail on Ingeborg, I can carry at least as much sail downwind as upwind (or rather a bit more) before thinking of reefing, so there is not much to win, speed-wise.  

Only if I were to race for silverware, would I bother with installing the at least three more control lines needed to let me wring out those extra 3-5% speed downwind. For my cruising, I prefer the half-short batten parrels, which make reefing easier.

Arne

PS; I must add that Ingeborg has a good rudder, so is not the first to need a sail with adjustable balance...

Hi all

Here is a tought that has been in my head for some time now. Probably nothing new, but I haven´t seen it mentioned anywhere.

When sailing downwind for extended periods, say in the trade winds, and wanting to have more balance in the sail, then why not reef the top panel to the top batten, tie the yard to the batten with reef lines and have a "new" lower angle in the reefed top section that will match a greater amount of balance.

 This will  naturally give a reduced amount of sail area -which does not seem to matter that much sailing downwind- but when needed, one could rig a spare panel or a "watersail" like an old genua from the boom...

Frederik