Solent Sail

While a ketch is a great design it does not "point" well.  That means it doesn't sail towards the direction the wind is coming from well at all.  No boat can sail directly into the wind but some, due to hull shape and sail plan do better than other.  Ours was in the top of ketch designs for going to windward but that only means it is not a total dog.  We wanted a sail that would allow us to sail closer to the wind and also give us a reduced sail area for those really windy days that are common in the tropics.  Adding an extra sail to the inventory has been in the works but since it is not a standard item, there was some design work involved.  We picked a lot of brains on what had worked and didn't work on other 424s.  In talking with riggers and our sailmaker, we came up with a good solution.  The beauty of the solent rig is that it is moveable and the stay (thick metal rope) is not permanently installed on the foredeck waiting to attack some unsuspecting fool in the middle of the night while they inspect the anchor.  The high tension lever lives on a shelf below and the stay ties off to the side deck out of the way.  Before the solent rig, the very best we could do to windward was about 60 degrees.  As you can see in the picture that is now improved.  We also had reef points put in the sail so it becomes good for really heavy wind.

This beefy piece of metal is installed below decks to support the forces of the sail when full.

The special lever attaches to the deck fitting and can be stowed below when the sail isn't in use.

The solent is close to the furled jib.  It is almost the same dynamics as the jib but smaller in area.




The wind indicator shows how close to the wind we can get with the new sail.