DaySailer.org Forum

I am talking to the Doyle loft in Seattle about making a UPS for my DS II. Can those of you who have added this sail to your boats give me some information?

1. The bowsprit: How far ahead of the standard stemhead fitting is the shackle for the furler? It seems like that dimension determines everything else.

2. How far above the standard forestay fitting is the upper fitting for the UPS?

3. Is the furling UPS fixed, or is it held up by a halyard like any other sail?

4. If your boat is stored on the water, do you leave the UPS up and furled, or do you store it?

5. How did you decide where to locate your turning blocks for the UPS sheets? Can you provide some dimensions?

6. How do you belay your UPS sheets? Do they go to cam cleats, like the jib sheets? Where did you locate the cleats?

Thanks...

I can answer no. 3 at this point. It's held up by a halyard. The Ronstan continuous-line furler works really well (although, for that matter, so does the Harken single-line furler I'm using with my Intensity jib).

My answers to questions 1, 2, 5 and 6 are based on dry-land guesses, so probably not of much value. Hopefully, I'll have answers based on actual water time later this month.

Talbot,

I will get the exact measurements tomorrow from my boat.

1 & 2) My recollection is 28 inches out and 17 inches above the forestay.

3) The furler is suspended by the halyard and basically becomes part of the sail so you need to tell them to account for it and the top swivel.

4) If my boat is going to be at the dock for a couple of days I may leave the UPS up, most of the time I would take it down. If I'm at my vacation place and I'm planning on sailing twice a day, which is not unusual, I would leave it up. If it's really windy and the prediction is for windy for a while I'll take it down. Nylon doesn't have particularly good UV resistance.

5) The guy that I talked to at Doyle said the usual location for the turning blocks would be the standard spinnaker turning block location, so that's what I did and it works great. They had those dimensions and I did not need to provide them. The sail seems to be cut just right. These photos seem to show how the sail shape is and how the turning blocks are on the aft deck… viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3571&start=165 .

6) So far, I have not installed cleats. I do use 52 mm auto ratchets for the turning blocks, though. I run the sheets forward to the jib sheet track where I have another turning block, actually the original jib sheet blocks, at least for now. The Holt-Alan ratchet blocks seem to match the sheet load for the UPS quite well. I did start using sailing gloves after acquiring the UPS, though. If I'm single handing and using the UPS, it's light air. My UPS is more powerful than the mainsail, so I cleat the main and handhold the UPS. I can release pressure in the UPS if need be and keep the boat under control. If I have crew and I'm on the edge (or even close) using the UPS nobody gets to cleat, there's just too much power up their. It's fun though!

The pictures that I put up of my UPS set up show how I stow the sail with the furler attached to the bowsprit. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3571&start=75 I'm able to deploy the bowsprit and UPS while out on the water, if need be. I haven't timed rigging it and the bowsprit. I'd guess it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 minutes maybe less. When the conditions are right for using it, I never seem to hesitate to rig it. If the conditions turn ugly and it needs to be taken down, I furl it but sometimes with high wind conditions it won't furl tight enough. I can pull it down from in the cockpit and just lay it across the front deck and stuff enough of it in the cuddy that it stays under control until I can secure it.

Talbot,

My UPS is not on a bow sprit or roller furler; I launch it from the turtle bag. My turning blocks are on the coaming about 18" aft of the CB trunk. The run across the cockpit to clam cleats on the coaming on the opposite side so I can trim without leaving the rail.

Chris

So it mounts aft of the forestay? How big is it? One concern I have heard about mounting aft of the say is that the sail is relatively small. The Doyle loft in Seattle also said that downwind performance might be compromised. Any thoughts?

I like the idea of avoiding the furler, so I'm still collecting data.

What loft made the sail?

--Talbot

Correct; I use my UPS like a genoa. I went smaller (71 sq ft if memory serves) because I sail solo most of the time and I wanted to be able to use it by myself. If you sail with crew, go larger. Downwind I sail it wing and wing using a whisker pole.