While our individual definitions of happiness on a yacht may vary, there are certain aspects that I believe most of us would concur make sailing feel like hard work. Rigging and especially de-rigging would certainly be top of mind!
Most genoas these days have furlers that make the sail quick to deploy or furl away. It's the mainsail that requires most of the effort, especially if something goes wrong (picture a batten car jamming and you now need to winch someone up the mast to sort it out).
Stack packs certainly make stowing the mainsail a lot easier, but you still need a person or two up on the coachroof trying to flake the sail neatly and tidy up all the lines.
So why have a mainsail on a cruising catamaran?
This was one of the key questions we asked ourselves right at the beginning of the design process for our HopYacht 30.
Over a busy two-week period in high season, we tracked the sailing habits of charter yachts in southern Türkiye and found that over 70% of people on a sailing holiday never bother to hoist the mainsail and opt to sail under genoa alone.
In the USA we talked to a number of yacht brokers and yacht maintenance companies and they reported a very high percentage of the older boats they worked on, had headsails that needed to be replaced whilst the original mainsail was invariably in great shape as it hadn't been used much!
Photo-Credit: Checkyeti
One of our own team described delivering a 45' catamaran from Cape Town to the Caribbean where three-hours into the voyage they made a decision to drop the mainsail as the lumpy sea conditions were knocking most of the power out of the mainsail. He and his crew sailed the rest of the way (over 6 000 nautical miles) under genoa alone. With just two people onboard this made managing the boat an absolute breeze!
Could we design a 30' catamaran with a single furling genoa that performed as well (if not better) than having a mainsail and a genoa?
Geoff Meek, design director at North Sails Cape Town, provided the answer to this question. Having successfully implemented this approach on a 60' catamaran, he was eager to adapt it to a smaller vessel. By moving the mast further aft, it was possible to adjust the sail design to shift the center of effort back. This helped the boat's upwind performance and ensured the helm remained well-balanced.
The result ... happiness! Not only does the boat perform beautifully, the single sail rig delivers a 'ship load' of other benefits too!.
One sail, one furler, one winch and two sheets would now eliminate the need for:
A mainsail, boom, halyard winch, reefing lines, mast track, battens and batten cars, mainsheet traveller and lots of other bits and pieces, all of which would add up to the equivalent of a hefty downpayment on a house!
In addition to saving on equipment, the HopYacht single sail rig significantly reduces maintenance, repairs and eventual replacement costs. It's the tried and tested KISS formula. Less equipment adds up to less wear and tear and less time sorting out issues.
Keep It Simple Sailor!
With the HopYacht sail plan, the happiness factor kicks in very quickly.
