Downwind sails Archive - Fritz Segel

Booster

babette — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:23:57 +0000

Furling the sail is quite simple: roll it up, ease the halyard, and stow the rolled sail in the forward hatch. Its operating range extends from 45° apparent wind angle (AWA) to 100°. In stronger winds, the Booster can even be used up to 110° without difficulty. Sailing “wing‑and‑wing” is also possible. The sail can be hoisted and doused effortlessly by rolling it on the spinnaker halyard. The radial‑cut sail, made from 0.75oz spinnaker cloth and attached to the bow fitting, provides significantly more drive in light winds than a jib or genoa.
A spinnaker pole is unnecessary, and there is no annoying flogging during hoisting or dousing. For tacking or gybing, simply roll the Booster away. A Bartels endless‑line furler is available as an optional extra.
The sail is trimmed using the spinnaker sheet. The Roll Booster is about 25% smaller than an all‑round cruising gennaker, making it an ideal sail for narrow sailing areas that require frequent course changes. Both small crews and single‑handed sailors appreciate this sail.

Der Beitrag Booster erschien zuerst auf Fritz Segel.

Furling Gennaker

babette — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:23:13 +0000

In the past, we were frequently asked about a gennaker suitable for cruising yachts. Sailors wanted a sail that was as easy to handle as a furling top drifter, but unlike the drifter, it should not be designed for upwind courses. The ideal operating range of this sail lies between 50° apparent wind angle (AWA) in light winds and up to 135° in stronger winds.
Such sails already existed on IMS racing yachts. These Code Zeros are highly specialized sails—free‑flying and just full enough to achieve a mid‑girth of 75%, allowing them to be measured as spinnakers rather than genoas. However, Code Zero designs are very complex to trim and therefore not ideal as cruising sails. Through our profile and outline adjustments, we were able to transform this high‑end racing sail into an easy‑to‑trim cruising sail with virtually no loss of performance.
So what does the furling gennaker look like?
Inspired by the Code Zero, we gave the furling gennaker a rounder entry and slightly more profile depth, making it easier to trim. The sail features a Dyneema luff rope integrated directly into the luff. When tensioned during hoisting, it provides excellent handling and prevents uncontrolled flogging of the sail. Furling and unfurling, as well as hoisting and dousing, become effortless. A Bartels endless‑line furler is available as an optional extra.
The mid‑girth has been reduced to 60%, and both the luff and leech curves have been flattened. These adjustments give the sail its high profile stability. Due to the smaller mid‑girth, the area of the furling gennaker is about 15% smaller than that of an all‑round cruising gennaker.
Nylon cloth processed along load paths and large reinforcements keep stretch to a minimum even in stronger winds, ensuring excellent profile integrity.
All these modifications make the furling gennaker an ideal sail for family crews or single‑handed sailors. We are confident that this sail will win many fans.

Der Beitrag Furling Gennaker erschien zuerst auf Fritz Segel.

Gennaker

babette — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:21:55 +0000

Gennakers are asymmetrically cut headsails made from very lightweight nylon or polyester cloth, designed for use on reaching courses from 60° to 150° apparent wind angle (AWA).

Depending on their intended use, gennakers differ in size, shape, and the materials from which they are made.

The sail is flown with a free‑flying luff ahead of the forestay. The tack is trimmed either with a tackle system or fixed with a strop to a dedicated bow fitting or an extendable bowsprit. The gennaker is hoisted using the spinnaker halyard. The sheets are attached to the clew: the leeward sheet runs aft to a block at the stern, while the windward sheet is led forward around the outside of the forestay and then aft for gybing.

Compared to spinnakers, gennakers are significantly easier to hoist, fly, trim, gybe, and douse. For this reason, they are often used on cruising yachts as an effective and user‑friendly sail for reaching and close‑reaching courses.

Modern racing yachts also carry gennakers as a standard part of their sail inventory.

A gennaker is not suitable for dead‑downwind sailing. In this position, the sail falls into the wind shadow of the mainsail, loses power, and collapses.

Der Beitrag Gennaker erschien zuerst auf Fritz Segel.

Spinnaker

babette — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:21:12 +0000

Spinnakers are symmetrical downwind sails designed for courses from 90° apparent wind angle (AWA) all the way to 180° AWA. They are made from very lightweight nylon or polyester materials.

To sail with a spinnaker safely in all wind and weather conditions, you need a well‑trained crew and an experienced helmsman. Handling the spinnaker pole during hoisting, dousing, and gybing requires practice.

For this reason, the much easier‑to‑trim gennaker is increasingly replacing the spinnaker on many cruising yachts.

However, on courses from 150° AWA down to dead downwind (180° AWA), no gennaker can match the performance of a spinnaker.

Der Beitrag Spinnaker erschien zuerst auf Fritz Segel.