On Nov 16, 2016, at 1:30 PM, dave_benjamin@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

James,

I'm a sailmaker who used to own a Maramu myself (hull #29) and I've supplied sails for several Amel owners. Here are some thoughts I have regarding your questions:

1. Cloth - The Maramu sails are fairly small since it's a split rig. Smaller sails don't experience the loads that larger sails experience. Radial Hydranet is an excellent cloth but very expensive. If you're planning long distance cruising, it has some advantages. On a Maramu, the one sail it makes the most sense for is the genoa. If you have lots of money to spend, then no harm in building the main and mizzen with it. For the mizzen, I'd be quite comfortable with a high quality crosscut Dacron. With the Super Maramu, the sails are all a bit larger so we can more easily justify more exotic sailcloth. On my ow n Maramu, I built the working sails from very high quality crosscut Dacron. If I had more money at the time, I probably would have done the genoa differently. 

2. Mainsail battens - When we build furling mains, we have 3 choices and it's important to understand the role battens play. 

A) - No battens

Advantage is simplicity and reliability. Without battens we have to have leech hollow so we lose some area and some upwind drive. 

B) - Battens that reduce or eliminate leech hollow

When we build a furling main, this is the most common way we approach it. If we want to reduce the possibility of a furling main jamming, the best approach is to have short vertical battens that don't ov erlap one another. By designing the sail in this manner we can eliminate almost all of the leech hollow. I'd be happy to send a photo of one of these mains to you if you'd like. 

C) - Battens to provide positive roach

I think people who want positive roach mainsails should have bought a boat with a conventional mainsail rather than furling main. These sails are the most likely to cause problems. One of my colleagues who manages a sail loft on the US east coast has spent a lot of time modifying positive roach furling mainsails into mainsails with a straight leech. 

3. Genoa size

Do you have the twin downwind pole arrangement for your boat? As for genoa size, it's hard to recommend without knowing what your sailing plans are. Many of the Caribbean bas ed Amels use smaller headsails successfully. 

4. Cruising Code 0

I really don't like this term because the term Code Zero refers to a very specific type of racing sail that has to meet certain girth requirements and is nothing like a cruising sail. So we named our version the CLASS (Cruisers Light Air Sail Solution). We usually fly this sail with an ATN spinnaker sleeve since foil-less furler installations can be a bit expensive and because it's a light air sail, there is no reason to not go on deck and retrieve it. We have a couple of different approaches when we build this sail for an Amel and it just depends on whether the client uses the twins for downwind sailing. If so we optimize the sail design to be more of a reaching sail since it will generally be used above 150 deg apparent. This sail is particularly useful for clients who have opted for a smaller genoa. The CLASS has a nicely defined shoulder and drives the boat well in light air. Trying to sail an Amel in light air with a traditional furling genoa is a bit frustrating because the cloth  is so heavy and then weighted down even more with a suncover on the leech and foot. 

---In amelyachtowners@..., wrote :

Hello,

   It is time for a new set of working sails for Sueno and I was hoping to get some input on what seems to work out the best.  I am considering the tri-radial hydranet for the cloth but open to other options.  I am undecided about whether to add battens to the main and mizzen.  I note that some are now using the short vertical battens to straighten the leech and in some cases full length battens to allow a bit of roach in the main and mizzen.  While the additional sail area is certainly interesting to me, I am concer ned about the possibility of a batten getting jammed in the spar on some dark night with the wind rising...  It would be great to hear from others to see how battens worked out..or not.  Another decision that I trying to make is what to do about the foredeck sail(s).  I know that my large genoa does not set well when reefed deeply and is prone to being stretched.  Would it be good to have a working jib to 110 with a foam luff for this usage?  If so should I also have a normal sized Genoa?  It would be a big help to hear about what light air sails seem to work well on the Amel.  Has anyone installed a code 0 and if so how did that work out?

Thanks for any input.

James Alton

SV Sueno,  Maramu #220

Arbatax,  Italy