The new Sailplan

A new rig - particularly one 7' taller than the original - requires a new sailplan. For this purpose, Ian McCurdy of McCurdy Rhodes and his assistant Noble Davidson were recruited to optimize a new sail arrangement.

Goal is to optimize her for short-handed and solo performance cruising in typical (80/20) Long Island Sound and New England wind conditions of < 14 knots wind. The resulting sail plan is one that utilizes  barely and non-overlapping headsails for the majority of work and more routine use of the innerforestaysail. These efficient,  high-aspect ratio sails make tacking far easier than hauling the old 150% around! In fact, with the taller mast, the sail area of the old 150% can now be reproduced with a 130%.  The initial headsail for sea trials is a #3, 92% jib. We'll fill in the holes from there.

The new main, including area gained from the new 'as drawn' boom (from 15' to 18'), results in a mainsail approximately 20% larger than her IOR-era configuration. I suspect we've solved the lee helm problem but now have to be sensitive to tenderness. MR's calculations - which assume zero weight reduction with the new mast - indicate increased initial tenderness of about 34%.  Keep in mind, we're starting with a Stability Index of 141-degrees. Center of Effort is heightened by 3' and moved aft by 9' with presumed zero help from a reduction in Center of Gravity. Since its a safe bet that the original mast weighs >1000# and the new one 275# sans rigging, actual tenderness should be more forgiving.  Even so, the new main sail will have five (5) full battens and three (3) reefs. It's expected she'll need a first reef in the 15-17 knot range with the 92% and be good up to about 21/22 knts before we reef again, shift to a #4 or the innerforestaysail.

In the meantime, she'll sail close-hauled far better with her new sail plan and jib tracks.  We fully anticipate to be adding Code sails, an asymetrical and small, reefing #1 as tuning for both cruising and racing progresses.

Special acknowledgement and thanks here goes to Charles 'Butch' Ulmer, president of UK Sails. Butch is a curmudgeon and former crew member on Sitzmark during the '70's. To his credit as a sailmaker, he has taken a self-motivated, paternal responsibility to work with MR and me to insure Sitzmark's sailplan is safe, conservative and meets our objectives. He certainly had competition for this business from the usual suspects and didn't provide the least expensive quote.  But his customer service responsiveness to earn this business was exceptional.  Needless to say, even her cruise inventory will be state-of the-art racing UK Sails. This choice is as much for ease of short-handed sail hoisting and handling as performance.