Like the boat pictured below, many cruising boats have a roller furling genoa as their primary headsail. This works fine until the wind starts to blow hard and then the combination of too much sail and not enough crew can make things difficult and unpleasant.
Getting rid of the big genoa is usually easy thanks to roller furling but what do you do then? Changing sails on the furling unit is a daunting task when short-handed and sailboats don't power particularly well in a big sea.
Here's an easy, safe and seamanlike solution:
Set you boat up with an inner forestay and when these conditions arise, roll your big genoa up, set your forestaysail and away you go.
This is easy and safe because sailing under main alone slows your boat and reduces heel so working forward of the mast is not such a chore. Also, since you're working in the middle of the foredeck and not up at the stem, there's much less chance of you or the sail going overboard.
The inner forestay is typically attached to the mast at the upper spreader and lives next to the mast when not in use. It is made fast to its deck fitting and can be tensioned in a variety of ways. Once this is done, the forestaysail can be hanked on, the halyard and sheets attached and all that's left is to hoist and trim the sail.
All these steps can be accomplished quite easily by one person;
A. The sail is relatively small and light so it can be handled without difficulty.
B. Once hanked on, it is completely under control..
C. The boat itself will now sail comfortably and you will be pleasantly surprised at how well it does with this rig. Although you will feel underpowered, your speedometer will attest to how efficient a set up like this can be. On most points of sail, you'll find yourself going 75-80% of your maximum speed.
The benefits don't end here;
On reaching passages, the forestaysail can be set inside your genoa and can add a 1/4 to 1/2 knot.
In storm conditions, you can lower and secure the forestaysail and set the storm jib on the inner forestay.
The combination of forestay and running backstays (the use of runners to oppose the inner forestay is recommended, particularly offshore) greatly increases the stability of your mast.
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