[Rhodes22-list] UPS Sail for Rhodes 22

[David Culp]

Joe:

I recently decided that the 175% was a little too large for my
conditions which are no rail meat and lots of beating into moderate or
greater winds.  I purchased a new 135% genoa from Stan which I have
not installed yet and decided to combine it with the UPS sail for
lighter wind conditions.

The UPS sail has a luff line built into it and the belly of the sail
is cut much higher then a normal jib.  I guess you could install it on
a normal furler but I don't think it would make a good permanent jib
sail.  This type of sail is not designed to be partially furled-it's
either all in or all out.  It should not be flown inside the shrouds
either because of the large belly which will not furl properly.  My
experiments with it so far show that I loose at least 5 degrees of
pointing ability maybe a little more when going upwind.  However, when
the winds are too light to use a jib it is a good trade off.

Also, Doyle says the max wind speed close hauled is 8 kts.  With that
high belly there is going to be a lot of heeling moment close hauled
if the wind picks up.  Last but not least, one of the limitations of
the 175% is that it is real heavy with all the Sunbrella sewn on it.
The UPS has no Sunbrella or other sun protection and the sun is going
to eat it up.  You would have to have a sleeve to deploy over it if
permanently mounted.

I would say that it is much better to keep a standard jib or genoa
installed on our boats and to use the UPS when conditions warrant much
like you would an asymmetrical or standard spinnaker sail as an add-on
to your inventory.

Please Note:  I am not saying the 175% is not a good sail for the
boat.  The places and way that most people sail the Rhodes 22, it is
probably the best choice.  However, in my particular situation and
conditions a smaller jib is better since the 175% stays rolled in
90+ % of the time.  When the wind drops in my area then it is usually
too light to fly the 175% and up until now, I was having to deploy the
"no wind" sail made by Honda.  Not anymore with the new UPS.


Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:27:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: DownHill <jadoucet at snet.net>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] UPS Sail for Rhodes 22
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Message-ID: <28358995.post at talk.nabble.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii


David,

I have moved my boat to an area where the 175 Genoa that came with my 2004
rebuilt Rhodes is much too heavy for the typical wind.

Couldn't one just replace the 175 sail with the Doyle UPS sail & keep the
existing furling system?

I'll be interested in your sailing experience, especially close hauled and
partially furled with the jib sheet led through the inner rigging points on
the boat.

I don't doubt that the UPS is superior off The wind.

Cheers,

Joe



David Culp-3 wrote:
>
> I just got a new UPS sail from Doyle for my boat.  I have used it only
> one time, but I was quite pleased with the results as I would have
> been motoring instead of sailing in the light wind conditions.
>
> There is a good discussion of the UPS for the Rhodes on rhodes22.org .
>  However, that information needs to be updated.  So here it goes:
>
> The new kit price is $ 1075.00 which is $ 100.00 more then the order
> form states.
>
> The kit includes:
>
> UPS sail for the Rhodes 22 in customer chosen colors.
> Harken furling kit # 3029 which includes the furler and top swivel.
> Sheet line and furling line cut in the appropriate lengths.
>
> All these items are great and exactly what you need.  The kit also
> includes a halyard restrainer which in reality is merely a pad-eye and
> a couple of pop rivets.  The deck-eye is just a plain old eye-bolt.  I
> was expecting something different in regards to these two items and
> had the discussion with Doyle in NY about them.  Doyle tells me that
> other Rhodes sailors are using these two items quite successfully, so
> to each his own I guess.  The pad-eye will work, but it is not a
> formal halyard restrainer and I ordered Harken # 944 ($45.00) to use
> instead because it has a roller sheave.  And do we really have Rhodes
> owners mounting eye-bolts with no plates on their decks?  Good luck on
> that.  I have ordered something different with a top and backing
> plate.
>
> In addition, I added a snap-shackle to the bottom of the furler unit
> so that it can be easily disconnected from the deck and a U shaped
> shackle to the top of the furler to connect it to the tack of the
> sail.  The provided top swivel mounts directly to the head of the
> sail, so nothing additional needed there.  I already discussed the
> halyard restrainer and with the IMF, I had a spare halyard available,
> so I didn't have to add one.  Lastly, I replaced all the cotter pins
> on the furling units with cotter rings hoping to prevent torn sails if
> they get together in the sail bag.
>
> Doyle in NY is good to work with and they always respond in a timely
> manner.  I think the sail is actually cut in Florida and Doyle Florida
> forgot to ship the hardware with the sail, so there was a delay
> getting it up and going.
>
> Once I get everything installed, I will take some pictures and send
> them to Rhodes22.org or post them here.  In the meantime, if anyone
> has any questions so far, feel free to ask.
>
> David