A primer on the racing staysail

by David Flynn, Quantum Sails
As we swing into the distance racing season, I thought it would be useful to talk about the staysail, little used in course racing, but an important weapon when going point to point. If you are lucky enough to do a true distance race such as the Trans-Atlantic or Trans-Pac, this is a sail (or sails) that you will probably have up a majority of the time. It has been a while, but the first time I did an Atlantic crossing we had our genoa staysail up for 11 of the 14 days. It was pretty much a constant.

While they come in all sizes and flavors, racing staysails are basically deployed inside reaching sails to augment horsepower and aid in balance. They can also help with generating flow between sails. Depending on size and shape, they can be used at tight angles as close as 60 degrees true wind angle (TWA)—as soon as the primary headsail is eased out—and aft to TWAs as broad as 140 degrees.

The design range of a given staysail is determined by size (where it is tacked in the foretriangle) and shape (how full or flat the design is). An easy way to think of reaching staysails is that they come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. In Quantum terminology this translates into the Inner Genoa Staysail (IGS), an all-purpose or Squaretop Genoa Staysail (SGS), and an OGS or oversized genoa staysail. – Full report in SpinSheet