System Series #8: Sails & Rigging

Jimmy Lee
Jan 11
8 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

This week we talk about what makes Utopia a blow boat and not a go boat…sails and rigging.

First, let's start with a quick definition of the two most typical types of rigs for cruising sailboats, and after that I will go into the particulars of Utopia’s sailing rig. I am not going to go into the details of all the pieces of parts of a sailboat but if you are interested you can go HERE! To get a general layout of a general sailboat.

General Rig Types

Sloop Rig

Sloops are the simplest type of rig and generally consists of two sails, a mainsail plus headsail or jib/Genoa. It is the standard sailboat you may have thought about when you are a kid. A spinnaker can be added in light winds, but you can do that with any sailboat, so I won’t go into that.

Cutter Rig

Utopia is a cutter rig consisting of a mainsail, a headsail (Genoa), and a staysail. The big difference is the fact that there is an inner staysail on its own stay. It’s a much smaller sail than the headsail and is more manageable. Also, a cutter rig’s mast is typically more aft than the Sloop.

Concisely Utopia’s cutter rig has:

Sails: One mainsail, an outer jib/Genoa, and an inner staysail.
Mast Position: Set further aft than a sloop.
Complexity: More complex than sloop, with additional hardware and lines.
Best For: Offshore cruising, heavy weather, offering more balanced sail plans and easier reefing by reducing sail area into smaller, lighter sails.
Key Feature: The inner forestay allows for powerful, balanced sail combinations, like using staysail with a reefed mainsail, for stability in strong winds.

Other Rigs

Other common cruising rigs are a ketch and a yawl, but I won’t go into those since we want to keep this article at a suitable length. Also, there is an almost unending variation of different rigs with different names and to avoid confusion I am keeping the list small.

Sail Types

Main Sail

The mainsail is our workhorse and is typically the sail that goes up first. It is attached along a track on the mast via low friction rolling slugs. It has four hard battens installed into the sail from the leach forward.

Utopia's Mainsail

We can raise the sail via a halyard that is led back to the cockpit. Even though we can do this, I typically will go forward to the mast to raise it from there while Sondra pulls out the slack. This decreases the odds of getting the sail battens caught on the lines holding up our sail bag. Once the sail is nearly all the way up, I come back to the cockpit to raise it up the last few inches using a winch.

When winds are strong, we can reduce the sail area (and thus power) by reefing. We have three reefing points at different locations along the luff (straight up and down part) and leach (hypotenuse part) of the sail. We can reef two of the locations from the cockpit (via single line reefing) but if we want to make the sail as small as possible by using the third reef, we need to go to the mast. As of yet we have not used the third reef, but we are happy to have it available incase we are caught out in very strong winds.

If we are motor sailing in light winds, we normally have the mainsail up to help with speed and motion of the boat.

Headsail (Genoa)

We have a small Genoa that we use as a headsail. Sometimes jib and Genoa are used interchangeably but there is a difference. A jib is a headsail where the clew of the sail (i.e., the lower aft corner that the sheets are connected to) does not extend past the mast. A Genoa is larger on the other hand and extends past the mast. Ours is a120% Genoa which means the sail extends about 20% past the mast. This is considered a relatively small genoa since some go as high as 150%. These larger ones are move powerful but more difficult to manage.

Utopia's Genoa and furler

Our Genoa is normally the second sail that goes up. It also can be used alone, without the mainsail up of you are going somewhat downwind. This sail is on a roller furling system which means it is wrapped around the stay and then is pulled out with the sheets and then later rolled back up using a control line. This allows for quick deployment and stowing without leaving the cock pit.

Reefing the Genoa just means rolling a portion of the sail up to make the area smaller.

Staysail

Our staysail is like a little gib/headsail tucked between the genoa and the mainsail and has a roller furl. It’s very small so it is easy to deploy and dowse even in heavy winds. We use this sail either in very light wind while we are trying to use all the wind we can, or in very heavy winds (when we want two sails but don’t want to use the Genoa). Since this sail is so small we really don’t reef it (it’s either out or it’s not).

Code Zero

Utopia also has a Code Zero which is used for light wind sailing between closed hauled and broad reaching. Its cut different than a spinnaker which are better suited for downwind sailing. Typically it is stowed below deck in a sailbag along with its a roller furler that works on its own torsion rope instead of a stay. Alas, we have had the sail in our inventory since we owned the boat, and we have not used it yet.

Sail Plans

Now on to sail plans for different wind conditions, meaning which sails are used to better work with varied weather situations. In regards to wind speeds

True Wind is the actual wind measured relative to the stationary earth (what weather reports show).

Apparent Wind is the wind felt on an object. If the object is moving, then the apparent wind will be different than the true wind. It is a combination the true wind with the wind created by the object's motion (like a boat!). When moving into a true wind, the apparent wind is stronger and shifts forward; when moving with it, apparent wind is weaker.

I am going to reference apparent wind when I am talking speeds since that is what the sails are feeling. The information below is just rule of thumb for Utopia and is not a fixed rule.

Apparent Wind (knots)	Sail Plan
< 5	We more than likely are motor-sailing with just the main up.
5-10	When we have time for a slow sail, we probably have all 3 sails out if we are going upwind. For downwind, only the Genoa and mainsail are out since the staysail doesn’t work too well going downwind. If heading deep downwind, we probably have the whisker pole out to hold the genoa out. If we are trying to move fast, we are probably motor-sailing unless we are close to broad reaching where we can may get enough speed with out the engine.
10-12	We still have all three sails out for upwind and Genoa and mainsail going downwind. We can sail at good speed here.
12-16	At this awesome sweet spot for sailing fast, the staysail would be rolled in and we sail with just the Genoa and mainsail. If it looks like wind is building and going to go well above 16 knots we might go ahead and put in a reef (especially if we are about to do a night sail).
16-19	Around here we would put in the first reef point on the main and roll up some of the Genoa. If we are trying to control our speed and going downwind, we might pull in the Genoa completely.
19-22	If upwind, we have a reefed main and a partially rolled up Genoa, or we trade the reefed Genoa for the staysail. Downwind we probably have just a reefed mainsail.
22-26	For upwind sailing the second mainsail reef is used and the Genoa is completely taken in and the staysail is used. If going downwind, we probably are running on a double reefed main.
26-30	If upwind, we probably would put in the third reef and keep the staysail out (for better balance). For downwind, we would use just a double reefed main. This is about the highest speeds we have sailed in, and it was only for a brief period.
30-35	Hopefully, we are not going upwind in this but if so, it would be triple reefed with staysail (maybe partially rolled). Downwind would be triple reefed main. In both of these conditions we are starting to think of other heavy weather tactics that may require going off course until conditions improve.
>35	At this point we need to think about heaving-to (which we are not discussing today) or heading downwind to lower the apparent wind if possible. Unless we are doing an ocean crossing, we really have made a mistake in route planning if we see 35 knots sustained wind.

Light wind conditions with all three sails out.

Standing & Running Rigging

Standing Rigging

Standing rigging are the static (fixed) parts that hold the mast up. Standing rigging on Utopia refers to the parts that support the mast and keep it stable, preventing sideways or fore-and-aft movement. Key components include forestays (forward), backstays (aft), and shrouds (sides). Many boats also have spreaders providing some lateral support of the shrouds (Utopia has two on each side), all tensioned by turnbuckles to maintain mast shape and control sail power.

Key Components

Stays: Wires running fore-and-aft (e.g., forestay, backstay) to support the mast against forward/backward forces.
Shrouds: Wires running from the masthead down to the hull (sides) to prevent sideways mast movement.
Spreaders: Horizontal struts extending from the mast that widen the angle of the shrouds, increasing support and reducing compression.
Chainplates: Metal fittings on the hull where stays and shrouds attach.
Turnbuckles: Adjustable fittings used to tune the tension (tightness) of the rigging, optimizing mast shape for performance.

Running Rigging

Running rigging includes movable lines like halyards (raising sails) and sheets (controlling sail shape). Other items like preventers and whisker poles are considered running rigging. I won't go into discussion about the control lines since they are sort of explanatory but I will touch on a few key special running rigging items.