Since you already have a roller furling arrangement I would advise going for the genoa;    but if your arrangement is a purely furling system (i.e. with no luff spar) you do really need to convert it to a full reefing arrangement by adding a luff spar.   So the total difference in cost will be more than the £40 you state.

Either sail will suffice,  but the genoa will offer more flexibility.    First,  in light winds you will be very glad of the full sail area.    And if the wind is so light that it becomes a choice between maximum sail area or having to row home there is no substitute for having the full sail area available.

Second,  with a full genoa reefing system you can always reduce the genoa area on demand,  to whatever area you want.   It will primarily be in stronger winds that you want to reduce it,  but the ability to vary the area also adds a useful additional degree of control for docking manoeuvres;  particularly if you are approaching well off the wind and you drop the main first,  you can use the reefing line rather like the accelerator on a car,  to slow down very largely as you require.

Third,  the GP14 will sail satisfactorily under genoa alone,  on any point of sailing,  including to windward.    This can periodically be very useful,  and not only as one option if you are caught out in gale force winds;    it can also be useful if you drop the main prior to coming in to a lee shore,  and then for whatever reason (e.g. unexpected congestion on the slipway,  or having to stand off to give way to another boat coming in) you find that you need to go back out and make a fresh approach.   The boat will most certainly do it under genoa alone,  but I don’t know whether she will under working jib alone (I confess that I have never tried it),  and I am not convinced that she will.

However there is one important detail;  with the full genoa you may find that when reefed the sheeting angle becomes too flat.   There are two possible solutions to this,  both easily arranged,  but the second is best done by the sailmaker at the time of building the sail.    Either fit an additional control line,  as per the photos,  or ask Jon to cut the clew a bit higher than standard so that the sheeting angle remains more or less the same when the sail is reefed.    Either will work;    I used the first system on A Capella when I first had her,  using sails borrowed from Strait Laced,  and then the second system when I ordered new sails from Jon;   both systems worked well,  but the additional control line was an added complication which ideally needed to be released and reset every time I tacked and which also took up a bit of space across the front of the cockpit..

Hope this helps,

Oliver

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Oliver Shaw.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Oliver Shaw.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Oliver Shaw.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Oliver Shaw.

Quite possibly.

A Capella,  as a very modern boat,  had the benefit of through deck sheeting,  but although that provides some degree of adjustment we limited this in order to minimise the holes in the deck.   I also found that it was awkward to alter the adjustment,  so having got it correctly set for full genoa I preferred to then leave it alone.

You may have more latitude on Spark,  although I found on A Capella that with the standard full genoa I wanted the sheeting brought at least as far forward as the shrouds when reefed,  and I am not sure whether moving it that far that is viable on Spark.    But even if you can’t get it all the way forward,  you may well be able to get it further forward than I could.

Now that you mention it,  I don’t remember any problem reefing the genoa on Strait Laced,  which had the same type of on-deck sheeting as you have..

Oliver