INVESTIGATOR 563

There was a commercially available storm sail that attached by Velcro around a furler. I have few old windsurfer sails and I've often wondered if they could be modified for that purpose.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/general-d ... jib-6.html

Some interesting opinions on sail balance and storm jibs here.

Here is the product mentioned above

http://www.atninc.com/atn-gale-sail-sai ... ment.shtml

Ozzie, with the racing method of jib change, there is less time for one of the jibs to be blown out of your grasp. Another technique is to hank the new jib on while hove-to with a backed jib. That way the boat is quieter and you are working in the wind shadow of the backed jib. I like to heave-to for reefing the main too.

The ATN gale sails are a good thing, there is another similar product that uses a series of zippers to hank sail around a furled jib, these are rather troublesome. You can even get a soft hank sleeve that you attach a normal type sail too. But allot of these storm sails are for storm survival tactics, they are put up to maintain control of the boat whilst the storm blows you along and not necessarily allow you to keep sailing where ever you like. Storm jibs along with deep reefed mains and trisails are often used in passive storm tactics like heaving to , when the sea state will no longer allow you to make way safely.
Cutter rigged boats are the usual choice for off shore cruising, when the wind gets up, the head sail is often doused and the staysail is left doing the work. This brings the forces back closer to the mast, (CG./CP) giving the wind less leverage on the bow. Jessica Watson's Pink lady was configured this way, she would fly her orange storm jib on the inner stay and use a deep reefed main whilst sailing to windward in storm conditions.
I really don't think the 563 has the capacity for a wardrobe of sails, It sails well with its conservative sail plan making a stiff boat and handles a moderate to strong wind well with sail trim. My storm jib would be best left in the shed with the porta-potty and it will be as soon as I get my new jib.
To add to comments about the 563, When I first sailed the 563 in a strong wind it was terrible but that was mostly due to the mast compression in the cabin top, Once that was fixed, I was able to get the rig tight and good sail shape. I replaced my rigging and chain plates and now I sail the boat with tight shrouds(guitar string tight), nothing loose and flapping about. In my opinion it has made heaps of difference to its performance.

I really don't think the 563 has the capacity for a wardrobe of sails, It sails well with its conservative sail plan making a stiff boat and handles a moderate to strong wind well with sail trim.

Learning heaps here guys esp your last post Steve.
With others on board obviously safety is paramount. I do mostly solo sailing relying heavily on my autopilot (Ray). I do push the limits sometimes but Ray tells me when its time to drop sails and motor home."Beep beep beep error error beep beep"

thanks all,for all the posting guys
Ian i do not know when the tiler got a crack in it but i know it was not like that when we set off
i know i did not full on it. also taken on board about the time factor too.

it raining in brisbane so no sailing for me as the wife does not like getting wet we gone every week end for four week now
so i give it a rest .i will start making all the things i need to run that jib line back to the cock pit.

Atles,one way of making sure the jib halyard doesn't fly up in a ball is to have the tail of the halyard permenantly secured to the cleat with a bowline . It can still be tied off as usual in a figure of eight but the end is always attached no matter what. PHIL.

thanks Phil i ended up running it back to the cockpit