I know a Prindle 18 mainsail will work well with my Gcat 5.7, I see some 18-2 sails for sale in the classifieds. How about the main from an 18-2 on my Gcat?
Thanks for the help, hope everyone has weathered the storms well. We were pretty much a direct hit with storm surge and power outages our only real hardships.
The luff for the main on the 18 and 18-2 is the same. The sail area is a bit bigger for the 18-2 main.
Hi Jalex,
I recently converted a 18 squared sail for my G-Cat 5.7 by removing the top panel to convert it from a fathead to a squaretop. This shortened the luff about 18 inches and it fits perfectly.
It is my favorite sail in 12mph plus wind. I use an old Tornado sail for lighter wind days.
Edited by bradinjax on Sep 14, 2016 - 08:12 PM.
To be more specific: the lower aspect ratio and modifications to squaretop of the 18-sq softens puffs and provides steadier power. I am much more confident flying a hull on the 18-sq than on any of the previous sails I have tried on the G-Cat 5.7.
Previous main sails include originals in fair shape, early 90's Tornado (modified luff) in really good shape and 18-sq (modified) in competition shape.
I have experimented with Hobie 18 and other jibs but still prefer original jib no matter what the main even though it is usually lowest in sq foot area. The lower aspect ratio and short foot just seem to work better even on my H-18 furler, especially when working upwind
Hope all this helps,
Edited by bradinjax on Sep 16, 2016 - 02:23 AM.
Really just looking for an extra main to have on hand. I have the original main that is in good-fair condition. I also have a set of 'rental fleet' sails which are basically new, I guess those will serve as my heavy air sails, haven't measured them yet but I figure they are less sqft. Never used them but when I see Gcat parts I buy them, its an instinct I guess. My original jib is getting pretty worn so I may be switching to using my 'rental fleet' jib in conjuction with my standard main. Not planning on the less sail area in the foretriangle impacting much. Saw an 18-2 main reasonable so figure I may give it a shot, guess I need to hunt down a boom as well.
I kept the 18-2 boomless and so is the Tornado main that I use most of the time.
I have tried H-18 Jib and H-16 jibs and the big difference is when working upwind. The original jib though smaller than both the Hobie jibs points noticeably better.