In our June issue we touch on the problem of hoisting storm jibs with roller furling headsails. A short while ago we conducted trials in Scotland into four solutions. The tests were carried out in a genuine Force Eight gale and the results were revealing.

Here is a summary of our conclusions updated where appropriate.

System One - second forestay
This involved setting up a temporary inner forestay to which the jib was hanked. This, in many ways replicates a traditional storm jib hoist. Provided a suitable strong point already exists on mast and foredeck, the system is simple and cheap to set up. Hoisting the sail is also straightforward with a minimum of time spent on the foredeck. However, during our trials we found it almost impossible to tension the stay sufficiently. Consequently the sail sagged badly to leeward and both windward performance and boat speed were poor. Effective tensioners exist, but they add considerably to the cost.

System Two - wrap-around sail
This was a proprietary design in which a two-ply sail was wrapped round the rolled headsail. The two parts are joined at the clews by the sheets. Trials in moderate conditions were encouraging - the sail set well with an aerodynamically efficient shape and gave good windward performance. However, in Force 8, the sail was almost impossible to rig - completely so down wind. Because of its design it is twice the size of a conventional sail until hoisted and this proved too much with 40 knots of wind over the deck.

System Three - jib with a sleeve
This involves fitting a conventional storm jib with a sleeve on its luff which is wrapped round the rolled sail and secured back to itself with carbine hooks or clips. The sail is hoisted with a spare genoa/spinnaker halyard. The cost of the sail is rather higher than a conventional storm jib but no extra stays, fittings or tensioners are needed so overall costs are low. Hoisting this sail in genuine storm conditions was tricky but much easier than System Two. Despite the apparent friction between sleeve and rolled sail, the storm jib hoisted easily and set very well giving good windward performance and speed. Chafe between jib and rolled sail must be born in mind but in practice is likely to be slight. This system was subsequently chosen by both Geoff Pack and James Jermain for their own boats.

System Four
A variation of the Wykeham-Martin gear in which a loose luffed sail is fitted with a furling drum. The great advantage is that the rolled sail can be set up, tensioned and fully prepared before any sail is deployed. However, we found it impossible to get sufficient tension on the wire luff to allow the sail to work with any sort of efficiency. A tape strop to hold the head of the sail to the forestay could go some way towards solving this problem.

System Five
This is a simplification of System Three which James Jermain is currently experimenting with. Instead of a luff sleeve, the luff is simply laced round the rolled sail. This is much easier and quicker in real conditions, though not as fast as traditional hanks. A reasonably straight luff can be achieved and good performance results. The downside is that chafe between the lacing and the rolled genoa must be accepted and significant damage could occur if the gale is prolonged. Mk2 will have webbing straps in place of lacing which will reduce chafe but be more difficult to hoist. This is the cheapest solution of all requiring no extra hardware other than a second headsail halyard and only half a dozen eyelets sewn into the luff.