DaySailer.org Forum

Hey just wanted to update my Daysailor experience.
We have been out about 5 times already and are really enjoying the boat. The first 4 times it was white capping on the lake. Needless to say I was a little nervous the first time, sailing a 50 year old boat in strong winds. I was waiting for something to break! All my repairs paid off. I was pleasantly surprised the boat did great. It is very stable and you really have to be not paying attention to capsize it. It is the perfect size for 3-4 adults and a large cooler. I bought a little anchor and we stop for lunch and a swim. It is too hot in Texas to sail now. I will be back out in Sept -October when it cools down a little.
The big main in strong winds produces a large amount of weather helm and really need to get a reef point put in my main sail. It is older North Sails main so I was looking at new main sails. I saw Intensity sails has a new main sail for $279 which seems like a great price. Precision has one design main for $1330!
Anyone has an idea of what it costs to have a reef point installed? Is it worth it?
Are Intensity sails good?
I don’t plan on racing so a well built cruising main would be perfect.
Thanks

Here are my thoughts. I bought my Daysailer 1 about 2 years ago and it came with sails from Intensity. I was not happy with the sails especially the jib. It was very hard to trim due to a rather large bag. Could not flatted out the jib. I bought new Neil Pryde sails from D&R for about $825. Plus I had a local sailmaker install a second set of reef points at about 40%. He also installed slugs on the luff. This was at a cost of $225. The sails did come with reef points at about 20% just like Intensity Sails. I sail single handed and wanted the second set of reef points. You might be able just to use a single set of reef points at 20% ? Many people here on the forum have bought Intensity Sails and are happy with them. For $279 for a mainsail is a great price.

The first whitecaps show up around 11 knots of wind speed; but they need a bit of fetch to develop, so on a narrow lake you might not see them. From my experience, I can sail with gusts up to around 14 knots without reefing (and without extreme hiking). With reasonably skilled crew I've been out in winds with gusts 20+, but for casual racing; for just getting around I would have put a reef in much sooner. (Hardcore racers manage higher winds than that - I'm not hardcore and we don't get enough high-wind days to really practice).

You might be in an area that runs to consistent stronger winds; in that case, definitely get two reef points and set things up so you are able to use both. Two reeflines (one for each refpoint at the leech) and a horn for the luff.

With respect to weather helm, do go look up the tuning guide for the DS at North Sails and look for their instructions on checking mast rake. Wrong mast rake can contribute to that issue. If you fit a boom vang (12:1 or better) then you can keep the main flat as you let out the sheet; that allows you to depower in gusts.

Also, if your jib isn't trimmed well, it may not counteract the main properly.

I'm on my second set of Jotz sails. After about 8-9 years the jib on the first set didn't want to set properly any more and it was time to replace them. I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" when it comes to sails and am willing to spend a bit on them. Still averaged over the seasons it's not that much. Per trip it's down on the same order of magnitude as gas to get to the ramp or the parking/ramp fee.