We just finished an A-class regatta this weekend. Sunday was ultimately canceled because the wind was 20-25knots: race comittee decided that was just over their upper limit. We have a Bora wind which is very gusty and has directon changes.

My question is this, what would happen if you took a worn out A-class sail and cut it down by perhaps 6 inches on the foot, made it a pinhead, and re-attached the boat rope to reduce the natural draft? I would guess it would have about 50% of the power and still be controllable with downhaul and support the mast correctly. For not much money I could imagine a sail like this working great for 20+ knots and still not risk breaking the rig. I have never heard of cats with high wind sails, but if ever a boat needed one... I doubt this would be class legal, but has anyone tried this type of cut down sail?