TECHNICAL MAINSAIL MODIFICATIONS

Safety and performance improved hugely when Mike Reynolds reduced the size of his mainsail and re-configured the systems controlling it

Our 1980s Yamazaki Yachts 34, Zen Again, is an IOR (International Offshore Rule) 3/4 tonner masthead cutter, with a fin keel and a skeg-hung rudder, displacing 6,000kg loaded for blue-water cruising.

When we purchased her in 2010 she had a fullsized mainsail, conventional mainsheet and traveller, a simple rope kicker, two mainsail clew reefing lines, and ‘slugs in mast slot’ mainsail luff attachment. She was designed for fully crewed racing and we quickly found that the main issue with the mainsail systems was safety. The full-sized mainsail may have been good for light airs whilst racing with four crew on the rail, but it was just too big for cruising. The mainsheet and traveller were in the cockpit, creating a ‘death-zone’ during gybes. The rope kicker required a boom topping lift which proved to be a nuisance, and reefing without tack lines necessitated work at the mast. The mainsail luff attachment was difficult to reef due to the slugs jamming. In short, she was just too hazardous for two-handed cruising.

She is very easily driven, so slowing her down is often our primary concern at sea. With the original mainsail, we very rarely set the full sail. This meant that one of the reefing lines was always in use and putting in the third reef required re-reeving the first reef line. So, when the time finally came for a new mainsail we had it made with the first-reef luff length and two deep reef points. Upwind the new sail works well in light breezes. A notable example would be the time when we sailed 600 miles to windward in 10-15 knots from Panama to Jamaica – and would have left most displacement 40ft cruisers in our wake!

Broad-reaching with the new sail and our 130% yankee will give us boat speeds of five knots in 6-8 knots apparent – a 120-mile daily average and perfectly respectable for our little cruiser. It’s fair to say that our new smaller main has certainly been a huge improvement.