Blackmagick Sails

OK some might ask, how does jib twist affect my boat going to windward and my pointing? In the above photo we have two boats which appear to be working to windward, 06 has much more twist in both main and jib than 11, there may be reasons for this that we don't know about, but if 06 was to try to point higher than it is the top section of its jib would luff and the boat would loose power and drive. You can almost see the lee side of the jib luff from this angle and yet we are looking on from an angle wider than 45deg. I would guess, we should not be able to see the lee side of the jib from here. If 06 has this much twist in the sails because of strong wind conditions it should have far less shape in the base of the main than it does then it could use more of this sail instead of trying to feather of the top half which will be causing a lot of drag.

Even though from another angle perhaps we can use this shot of world champion Graham Bantock's one metre as an example of just how to set up a jib for windward work. Note how low to the deck it is set (and the main) and how little shape he has in the foot of both sails, yet this appears to be very moderate to light conditions. If the camber or draft in your sail is less than 10 to 1 then you possibly have too much shape, 14 to 1 is considered by some to be optimum. Over-full sails are rarely a help in any conditions!

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