I just finished reading "The Sailmaker's Apprentice" as well as a variety of
other books. There's a number of advantages to a roachless, and therefore
battenless, main - the primary advantage is longevity. With no batten
pockets to chafe and no 'pivot point' for the roach to pivot around and
chafe, such sails tend to last a lot longer. In fact, the author of that
book doesn't even like headboards. He makes a real strong argument that
cruisers should always use such mainsails.
Performance, however, is not one of the advantages. The roach helps greatly
in adding sail area, as well as closer approximating an ellipse at the top -
the ideal shape to minimize induced drag. The more I read on the subject,
the more induced drag strikes me as a very important component of overall
drag. Reduction of this type of drag is why, as sailboat designs evolve, we
see higher aspect ratios in both the sail plan and in the foils below the
surface.
> I've sailed SF Bay on my windsurfer in conditions like that and I
> know that
> gusts can reach 35 or 40 when it's blowing a steady 25-28. (That
> was in my
> younger, more durable days. Nowadays, I don't go out when the gusts are
> likely to exceed 30 mph) So the P-19 can handle at least that
> much of a blow.
It sure can, and its exhilarating sailing especially when you can reduce
sail to make things a little more controllable.
> As soon as I get to know my boat better and have logged a lot
> more hours of
> practice on the water, and when we have finished refitting her
> (some 13-year-
> old parts are looking a little tired on Red Wing), I plan to be
> out on the Bay
> in those conditions.
Be sure to check the padeyes on the boom for the mainsheet block. Mine were
riveted on and sheared in a gale once.
>There's a good reason NOA issues "small craft
> advisories". That means proceed with caution. Intermediate skippers and
> boats with deferred maintenance should stay home on those days.
My personal rule of thumb in puget sound and protected waters is SCA=good
sailing, but I won't go out when I know there's a gale warning, and I always
check. I've never gone out in the open ocean, but I would definitely start
in mild conditions if I did.