MC Sail Thoughts by Skip Moorhouse
SAIL DETAILS: Class specification compliance throughout. All racing accouterments. Your racing number in red. Tapered battens. Royalty sticker. Tube bag. Set-up instructions and suggestions.
BACKGROUND: During the winter of 2008-2009 Sobstad's Peter Conrad and I set out to create a new sail for the MC Scow. We decided upon a sail of the "radial-clewed" type. Our reasons for proceeding in this manner found their basis in Sobstad's racing successes with its novel clew radial sail. I contributed familiarity with the MC's sail plan and the requirements of the boat itself, and Peter applied Sobstad's technological background and emphases to that which I had set forth. The initial regatta test of the new sail resulted in a second place in the 2009 Midwinter Championship. From that regatta forward our sail's record has been a sparkling one – three Midwinter Championships, four Triple Crowns, and numerous other regattas.
ENGINEERING: We selected the "radial-clew" type of panel organization for two reasons: it best distributes sail plan forces when the sail is sheeted-on hard, and its structural yarns are essentially uninterrupted. Put another way, the sail has no transverse seams. A well-known sail making software creator, author of the Autometrix sail-design program, once said to Peter: "It's simple, because force travels along the leech and then from the clew forward and along the entire aft side of the mast." The positive result of this approach is clearly visible when the sail is sheeted-on - HARD. At that point in time, the leech refuses to turn inward and consequently remains "open" and capable of providing real speed to weather. The harder the sail is sheeted, the greater the boat’s speed to windward and the flatter or more upright its attitude. This happens I think, because the structural yarns extending from clew to (the entire) luff share in the distribution of force and enable the bending mast to assist in the flattening of the sail itself. An MC sail with traditional yarn and panel arrangement and/or a radially-organized clew section cannot provide this sort of response to sheet tension. The sail’s behavior and responses in light winds, when sheet tension is substantially reduced, is also commendable. Repeated victories in Lake Eustis’ Southeast Regional, Train Wreck, and Midwinter regattas assuredly testify to the validity of the technical points made above.
The sail's skin is a woven 4.3 oz racing material which has a urethane coating on both external sides. Why the double coating? To enhance rigidity, stability, and performance. We also offer a sail with a 3.7 oz. charcoal skin.
PRICE: $1,295.00 USD delivered to you via UPS Ground Service.
Sails are currently available in the contiguous USA and Canada only, excluding Alaska, Hawaii and US Commonwealth and Territories.
HOW TO ORDER: Email [email protected]
SHOULD YOU WISH TO SIMPLY DISCUSS THE SAIL AND/OR SAILING: Email or call 609.405.0506