This article from the magazine SAILING TODAY February 2005 has been reproduced with the permission of the magazine editor with our thanks.

It has long been the case that everything about boats is a compromise and an advantage gained in one place is usually traded off against a loss somewhere else. Furling headsails offer significant advantages, particularly for short-handed crews, but the headsail becomes baggier and baggier as it is reefed and, unfortunately, this is exactly the opposite of what is required in sail shape when the wind really blows. For that reason, a proper storm jib should be considered an essential part of any yacht's safety gear. It may, after all, enable the boat to sail clear of danger long before the crew might otherwise be looking wistfully at the liferaft.

In days of old, the simple answer was to drop the headsail and replace it with the storm jib. Although this meant that one of the crew had to venture on to the foredeck in the worst conditions and then struggle with billowing sails and the often recalcitrant piston hanks of the seldom used storm jib, it did result in the hoisting of a sail designed for the conditions.

With furling headsails so common nowadays, the problem is that once there is a need for the sail to be well reefed, it could be very unwise to completely unfurl such a sail to remove it before replacing it with a storm jib. Sailmakers commonly suggest the rigging of a secondary inner forestay on which a conventional storm jib can be hoisted. This means extra rigging, windage and weight aloft remaining there even in a flat calm. An alternative is the wrap around storm jib. This is a sail shaped like two sails joined at the luff, which is wrapped around the forestay and the fully furled headsail. The two clews of the storm jib are then held together by the sheets.

Saturn Sails of Largs made the sail featured in these pictures. It is 3.3m sq. in area, or about 35ft sq. This size was designed for a 31ft. sloop and is intended to be useful in winds above 45 knots (Force 9), a wind speed at which no furled headsail is likely to be of any use. The old hanked sail it replaced was about 20 per cent bigger, but I had found it to be over large in an Atlantic storm when winds exceeded 55 knots (Force 10-11), hence the smaller size.

One of the criticisms of this style of sail is the difficulty of hoisting it due to friction between the storm sail and the furled headsail, but I have found the effort required to be less than that required to raise the mainsail in a normal sailing breeze. It is probable that this surprising lack of friction is due to the storm sail?s rather slippery resin finish. It may well be that this coating will wear off over time, but if past experience is any indicator, this sail will probably not be used in earnest more than once every couple of years, so it should remain slippery for a long time.

Supplied with its own special launching bag, the sail is attached at the tack with a long, permanently fitted tack strop, which passes through a slot in the bottom of the sail bag. The clews and head are accessible through the Velcro fastened sides and top of the bag. While the sail is set, the bag remains at the bottom of the sail, avoiding any worry about having to rescue the bag from a heaving foredeck.

The sail has proved to be quite practical, allowing speeds of about 3 knots on a course approximately 60 degrees off the apparent wind, rising to about 4.5 knots on a course 120 degrees off the wind. These figures were obtained in a wind of about Force 8, the boat being of heavy displacement with a long keel. Although some slight lee helm was created by the centre of effort being so far forward, there seemed no need for a staysail and it seems likely that lighter displacement boats would manage with a similar arrangement. In use, the two leeches are intended to be joined by Velcro running down the inner edges, although the sail set quite happily when inadvertently hoisted inside out. Saturn Sails says it will put markers on the two clews in future, which should obviate any associated problems, such as the sail trying to open in running dead downwind.

The quality of workmanship in this sail is impressive, with all edges being properly tabled and attachment points very heavily reinforced .The only difficulty experienced was in trying to repack the sail after use but, by then any storm is likely to be over, so that is probably not going to be a concern after surviving the conditions in which such a sail is likely to be needed. Gordon Buchanan.

Contact Saturn Sails on 01475 689 933.

SAILING TODAY Verdict:

An essential safety item, well thought out and well made, but quite expensive due to the double amount of material used.