What type of sails do the Class 40’s generally carry and how do they make sail choices?

May 12, 2013

The Class 40 has an interesting rule that only allows 8 sails total to be carried onboard.  Two of these must include the storm trysail and storm jib.  Basically that means 6 racing sails broken down (in general terms) as follows:  Mainsail, Solent Jib, Staysail, Masthead “AP” Spin(A2), Fractional Spin(A6), Masthead Code “)”.  However, since each boat layout is slightly different, most teams have different sail inventories that are unique to their program and sometimes teams make compromises in order to squeeze an extra sail on board.  For example some teams have “reefable” spinnakers (which can include a zipper to reduce area) so they can forgo the fractional spin and carry and extra reaching spinnaker (A3).  Other teams have reefable solent jibs in order to forgo the staysail and carry an extra “upwind” Code “)”.  The box rule nature of the boats allows some creative in regards to the sailplan and is part of what makes sailing the boats fun and compelling.