50 DS: Classic vs Standard main

[DUET]

I am finalizing my order for a 50 DS. My question is does anyone have an experience with a classic main (using shoal draft, not Performance rig) as compared to the roller furler main? It appears that there is about 120 sq ft. additional area, resulting in a much larger roach. Thanks.

[krawall]

We did not bother thinking about in-mast furling, as we live in an area with little wind so I need all the sail area what we get.

When we bought our 36i we test-sailed a furling main one and it was still a lively boat. There are points of sail where you will not notice it much. However, there are points of sail (beam/broad) where you will really miss the area.

Apart from this, in-main furling is not bomb proof. We had to fiddle around to furl it on our test drive (the dealer said it never happened before, though).

Upside is that you can reef the main to any size you want and reefing is easier. Although (as it happened to us) you may need to go into the wind to get the sail into the slot. If this would happen it would be safer to have a classic main which you can reef at almost any point of sail especially downwind.

Obviously, purists will find more things to complain. High center of gravity, lack of roach (which can be minimized by vertical battens that work quite well - if the bulk still fits into the mast), if the furling mechanism gets really stuck you have a problem - you may not be able to get it in/out/up/down

A single person can reef our classic main easily but then of course your sail will be much bigger.

Hope this helps.

Tom

[DUET]

Thanks Tom for your comments. Having done a lot of racing, both around the bouys and offshore, I had a real problem with the sail shape and lack of roach with the inmast main. I frequently sail on a friend's Beneteau 49 (2007), like the boat, but have a tough time with the performance of the main. The classic completes the boat for me.

[Zanshin]

I have in-mast furling on a 49DS, so a similar size boat and sail. In the Caribbean winds of 15+ knots true I almost always sail with 2 or more equivalent reef points in the main while letting out the whole 130% genoa; this results in a perfect balance while letting me optimize the mainsail trim. If I use the whole mainsail then the main overpowers the genoa and I have to use a lot of rudder to compensate or make the mainsail so inefficient that it almost ends up flapping. My point is that for my conditions and sailing (never racing) I don't miss the added mainsail performance that a fully battened sail would give me.

[gene]

To each his own. I do not like in-mast furling and have had trouble with them on several friends boats. You need to use larger head sails to compensate for the smaller sail area. They will also cause the boats to heal more and create weather helm due to cupping in the leach area, mostly a problem as the sail gets a little older.

I would rather handle smaller head sails. Slab reefing is fast and easy. This lets you sail a larger wind range without changing head sails. Even better is you use padded luff on head sail so you can reef it properly. Full batten allows you to point better as well as make use of higher winds up high. I am currently ordering a main with a large roach that will overlap the back-stay. It will have a short reef about 1 foot up for when I want to tack without having the sail rub the back-stay.

Note: Pointing is not as big an issue with shoal draft as you won't point as high anyway as you will start to slide sideways.

All that said I know folks that really like furling main sails.

Gene

[DUET]

I was particularly interested in the comments from Zanshin as the 50 DS is very similar to the 49. Having just returned from the BVI's on a Beneteau 49, I share your choice for the inmast furler for the Islands. In the Northeast, we have much lighter air so my conclusion was a classic rig was preferable (until I have to reef the first time). Thanks

[krawall]

I'm pretty sure you will find an easy way to reef quickly on your boat. On ours, we reefed so many times now, it almost becomes second nature. Let the mainsheet out a bit (when close reaching), halyard on one winch, reefing line on the other, let halyard slip, winch reef in.

What really helps us is the new solid boom vang we recently fitted, it helps to prevent the boom falling down on someone tremendously. On your boat I think it will be standard.

Sorry I'm not finished, lastly to say that if you see the wind is up, as we do sometimes,just tug in the first reef before hauling up the sail - the sailshape on ours is just perfect with reef 1 or reef 2 and occasionally we just sail with the reef in place for the day. Although yes we can't adjust sailshape as much anymore as we don't have a variable outhaul

Tom

[DUET]

Thanks for your input. I'm looking forward to the classic mast and am convinced that was the correct decision for me.