Hello Simbo rig!

17º 18.707n 115º 26.033w

Sun Apr 21 2019

Traditional sailors scoff at them - don’t think it’s “real sailing”. . . lot of those same folks are certain we’ll end up floating around upside down in our catamaran because it’s certain to turn over sooner or later.

Nuts to them.

A Simbo rig is simple - a twin headsail setup for deep downwind sailing. Last Spring we purchased a lovely new jib from Neil Tasker at Barracouta Sails in Australia, and we just got around to hanking it on before this trip. It looks great alongside our new Zoom main sail which Jamie Gifford of Totem designed for us, and one of our biggest points of discussion is which sail has the groovier logo.

Our course is now taking us almost dead downwind, and we’re loathe to set the main sail deep and install a preventer and listen to it bang around and think about those big snatch loads and “what if we make a mistake or the autopilot malfunctions and we crash jibe”, the certainty of chafe damage, etc.

Hello Simbo rig. Looks like a giant arrowhead pointing at the sky, and once both jibs are hanked onto our dual slot furler, and each is pulled out to the side on its own barber hauler, there’s just nothing else to do except enjoy the quiet, calm ride and wait.
8.4 knots of true wind on the stern is giving us over 4 knots speed over ground, and 10 knots of wind is getting us over 5. Not too shabby. Can’t wait to see what the trade winds will do for us!

If we’re comfortable, the crew is more rested, alert, attentive and happy. If we reduce the risk of breaking equipment we might avoid paying the huge cost of fixing our boat in exotic places, the cynic’s definition of cruising. If we reduce the frequency of climbing on the cabin top to tend to a reef or a preventer, or wander up to the foredeck to mess with sail trim, we reduce our exposure to injury and the risk of going swimming.

Let 'em laugh. We’re enjoying the sleigh ride.