Storm Sails

Storm sails are a necessity when sailing offshore in areas with the risk of strong winds and heavy weather. They are also demanded as being part of the sail wardrobe by most international organizations for offshore racing events including Australia. Marine annual insurance premiums are usually cheaper if leisure boats carry them onboard.

Rolly Tasker has launched a range of pre-fabricated ‘stock sails’ which offer exceptional value for money compared to one-design sails. They are rugged and strongly finished to ensure they are capable of handling storm conditions reliably and give trouble free use. The sailcloth used is heavy duty dacron constructed with over sized and heavy corner patches with webbing and hand sewn leather re-enforcement: the seams are triple stitched and leech lines installed. They are made in plain white with highly visible orange balls both sides of the sail, or for a small additional cost the full sail can be made all orange which is an Australian Yachting Federation requirement when racing offshore.

While fast turn-around time from order to delivery is guaranteed, the major benefit is that there is a significant cost saving to the boat owner as being ‘stock sails’ with standard dimensions and finish, they only have to be designed once, materials can be pre-ordered in large volume and they can be made at a time when the sail loft is under low demand.

Our Storm Sails are constructed to the highest offshore specification throughout.

• Strong Cross-cut Premium US Dacron Construction

• Seams three rows zig-zag stitch with UV stabilised thread

• Stainless steel rings reinforced with webbing and leather

• Hand sewn leather reinforcements on wear points

• Extra heavy radial patches

• Extra-large or doubled tapes with 2 rows of stitching

• Webbed on luff hardware

• Low stretch leech line

• Low stretch leech line

We have a large range of standard sizes to suit all boat sizes at very competitive prices.

Selecting the correct size is easy. Simply checkout the sizing charts below or email us at any time and we can work it out for you.

FOR RACING YACHTS - This is the AYF Rule for maximum sizes - Please also see our recommended sizes on our sizing charts.

(a) storm jib of area not greater than 5% x (height of the 12 fore-triangle (I) 2, and luff maximum length 65% height of the fore-triangle.

(b) A storm trysail capable of being sheeted independently 12 of the boom with area not greater than 17.5% x (mainsail) luff length x mainsail foot length).

The storm trysail shall have neither headboard nor battens.

We offer two colour options.

White with large day-glow orange patch

Full day-glow orange

White with the large day-glow patch is perfect for cruisers, however if you are racing the Australian Yachting Federation (AYF) and most other international bodies require the Stormsail to be full day-glow in colour.

Storm Sail Colour Options

By using Storm Jibs in heavy weather conditions the centre of effort is reduced which means less heeling and better steering. Many cruising sailors purchase a Storm Jib sail one size larger than required so it can double as an inner staysail for use in windy areas.

LUFF HARDWARE

We can fit your new storm sail with hanks for a wire forestay or a bolt rope if you are fitting to headsail furler or foil. We also have optional “soft hanks” designed for use on fibre or dyneema inner forestays.

All sails fitted with a bolt rope will also have additional luff eyelets which can be used as an alternate means of attachment as legislated under the yachting Australia Rules.

A Storm Trysail is a small triangular sail with a 'droopy' clew that is hoisted by a halyard on the mast and is sheeted independent of the boom. It is preferable to use a separate track on the mast to avoid the potential danger of removing your mainsail in heavy weather conditions.

Trysails can be equipped with luff slides, or left with eyelets for parrel beads to be installed.

A Gale Sail is a Storm Jib that simply hoists over the top of a furled headsail meaning that the furled sail doesn’t need to be removed. It can be hoisted with the spinnaker halyard or a spare jib halyard.

This is the safest and easiest way to hoist a storm jib on a cruising boat with a furling headsail as it eliminates the dangerous job of unfurling, dropping and stowing away the furled sail in windy conditions in order to hoist the Storm Jib. Further, since it is hoisted over the furled headsail, the Gale Sail has a great aerodynamic shape, much better than either a conventional Storm Jib hanked on to a removeable headstay, or a partially furled headsail, which most of the time has not been designed or built for that purpose. Further, the Gale Sail slides up and down amazingly well because Dacron slides over itself very well.

By using a Gale Sail in heavy weather conditions the centre of effort is reduced which means less heeling and better steering.

Many sailors tend to purchase a storm Gale Sail one size larger than required so it can double as an inner Staysail for use in windy areas.