Pulled the trigger on Big Jib kit and Lite Skin sails

[Stickinthemud57]

I gave myself an early retirement gift and purchased BWY's "Big Jib" re-rig kit, Lite Skin mainsail, and Lite Skin "Big Jib" for my 26S. I have been interested in this upgrade since Todd described it to me in 2021, and since the Admiral gave me the go-ahead ("Better to buy it now while you are still making money"), I decided to go for it.

The Big Jib re-rig kit is designed to fly a taller 136 sf jib (as opposed to the standard 106 sf of the 100% jib) inside the lifelines (unlike the genoa, which has to be flown outside to avoid the spreaders). Purported benefits over a standard genoa are better pointing ability (makes sense), easier tacking (also makes sense - only 1.4' longer in the foot than the 100%) with less heeling and "NO EXCESS WEATHER HELM" (in all caps re BWY's write-up). Also touted is better performance across a range of wind speeds.

Since this is mostly a racing performance upgrade, I decided that better upwind performance would more than offset the loss of 9% of total sail area I will be sacrificing when sailing downwind.

The mainsail and the rigging kit are shipping soon, but I will have to wait about 6 weeks for the jib.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has made this upgrade, has experience with the Lite Skin sails, or would just like to chime in with their opinions or observations.

[kenfyoozed]

Awesome! I have recently been thinking about doing the same for my 26D. I like the looks of the lite skin sails, if nothing else. The one thing I want though is to be able to sail with the pop top open if I wanted. So i may have to get a main sail custom cut to a shorter length to allow for this. I wont get sails until year so please keep us informed on how they work. You never know if I will change my mind...