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Mainsail & genoa |
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Sails are, as one might expect, the main means of long-term propulsion on a sailboat. The engine is used to get into and out of harbours and crowded anchorage (but, in a pinch, can be dispensed with) but for long-distance voyaging the two sails on a sloop such as Zanshin provide the motive force to move the 30 ton vessel as speeds of 10 or more knots for days on end. The modern sloop rig (also called Bermuda or Marconi is a deceptively simple form of rigging that is superior (for cruising purposes) to the other common types of rigging systems (Lateen, Junk, Square and Gaffe, to name just a few) and can be sailed quite close to wind. The sails are not merely large areas of cloth, but are cut in such a way as to make both the forward sail, called the jib or genoa depending upon size, and the mainsail act as air foils and to complement each other to create additional forward vectors.
Both the mainsail and genoa on Zanshin are furling sails. Most sailboats these days have a furling genoa, where the sail is furled up into a compact roll and where the sail can be “shortened” by partial furling to exactly the desired surface area for the sailing conditions - when the wind pipes up the forces on sails increase exponentially and thus sails need to be made smaller in strong winds. The same method of furling is used for the mainsail, but the inside of the mast is used to store the furled sail. This makes single-handing a lot easier, since just two lines control the amount of mainsail, one outhaul to pull it out and a furling line to pull it back in. On a classic mainsail there would also be reefing lines present and the sail needs to be raised and lowered, which considering the size of the sails on a 57 foot sailboat is a pretty big task.
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