That's a good point, Louie. No one seems to write much about sail
deformation in stronger winds. I encountered that when I joined Dave Kautz
on a windy lake one afternoon. The wind was tolerable in the relatively
sheltered area near the ramp, but in the middle of the lake, a wind of
probably 25 kn or more was streaming in over the dam. My lateen sail began
to billow like a spinnaker and became impossible to trim in. I ducked into
a sheltered cove then rigged a line to vang down the boom. (On my
Sunfish-type rig, the vang is a line that pulls down on the gooseneck.) I
also tightened the outhaul then ventured back out into the jetstream. With
the sail thus flattened, the boat was quite manageable because it could be
trimmed in for any point of sail.
When you sail with the main lowered, I presume you are sailing off the wind
since I don't think either Potter will go upwind with jib alone. I know
mine won't, although I don't think I've tried that with a genoa. I used my
genoa only in light air.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA