Hello Dave; I sail on the ocean in Brooklyn & the ocean Southerly winds always pick up in the early afternoon as the land mass heats up. So I frequently use a smaller main with the jib roller furled ! I still can't right the boat solo when it capsizes.
When using a smaller sail to depower the boat the head of the sail will not come out of the mast track if it has the same size rope luff as the regular main.
If you use a tether to make up for the space inbetween head of the sail & the main halyard stop on the top of the mast You WILL NOT BE ABLE to release the halyard from its stop at the top of the mast. It will not release when you turn the mast to align the halyard ring above the stop because a line tether is not rigid enough to move the ring into the release position. LET ME EXPLAIN:
When Using a smaller sail on the P-19 or any boat with the same set up using a halyard ring & stop ,you must use a rigid extension to take up the space in between the top of the sail & the halyard ring stop at the top of the mast.
I use a sail that is 6'shorter than my regular P-19 main . I use a flat piece of aluminum 6'x 1/2"x 1/4" with one hole drilled on each end .One hole to attach a new shackle to the extension & to the head of the sail & one hole to attach the regular halyard shackle & ring to the rigid extension. On the Aluminum extention , I attached 1 plastic mast slide 2" below the regular halyard shackle & ring & 1 plastic mast slide in the middle of the extension. The slides face the mast sail track . When you hoist the sail up, the 2 mast track slides attached to the rigid extention will keep the halyard ring in line with the head of the sail & it will lock & unlock the same way the regular main does .
If you just use a piece of 6' line, ss halyard or strapping to take up the space you will be able to hoist up the sail but you will not be able to release the halyard ring to lower the sail ! I worked this system out by trial & error & it works everytime without fail . If I confused you get back to me & I will try to answer your qs . Bill

Bill, that's BRILLIANT! That's precisely the trick I was hoping someone would offer up! How are the sail slugs attached to the extention? What's the shackle at the lower end of the extention look like/how's it attach to the extention bar? Seem like it can't have much slop if the upper shackle/ring is to remain in the same plane as the headboard. Where do you attach the halyard, at the lower end? Pics?
I'm enthused, seem like this will work well for me! Thanks!
Anyone care to weigh in on the shorter foot/boom issue? Thank you guys!

Dave

That's going to be a big bag.;-))

Hi Dave: I am happy that you read my response with such enthusiasm . I use the standard halyard shackle & ring that comes with the boat for the top of the rigid extension...the shackle pin attaches to the hole in the extention(when you use the regular sail for the boat it is set up the same way ) & the ring is attached to the halyard line & fastens to the mast stop when you hoist the sail ! For the lower end of the extension ,the side that attaches to the sail,
I use a large standard stamped halyard shackle(with a captive pin to prevent loss of pin)the open end of the shackle first goes through the mainsail grommet & the pin locks through the hole on the extension. There is No slop. if you need further explanation or picks contact me: Billsails@hotmail.com give me your home address & I will send you a simple diagram ...If you sail a P-19 it will definately work ! Bill

Hi Dave: I forgot to give you the info on "How to attach the sail slides to the Extenion". My sailslides come off a Pearson Ensign Main . The slide is plastic with a ss bail embedded in it. It is about 3/4 ",rod shaped (the length is not important the diameter of the slide is critical because it must slide up & down withoutgetting caught in the mast slide track . It fits perfectly into my mast track . The bail is attached with a very small shackle to a hole in the extension. When I first set up the extension I used a plastic sail slide that was too big for my mast track so i ground it down to perfect size . Good luck ! Bill

Thanks Bill, I'll email you soon.

dave

You wont break the HT mast with a Acat main. That Riba mast is plenty strong. If the mast track flex's and the bolt rope pulls out, add a 3-4 layers of carbon to the spot where it pulls out (if it does)

Bill

Great, thanks Bill. That's the reassurance I was hoping for. What do you think about the smaller mainsail idea?

Dave

I was going to have a smaller main made, but then never got around to it.

I think you'll find that in really high wind its not sailing the boat that will be the issue, its leaving the beach and returning, getting the wheels, getting the sail down. All that stuff is going to be hard without an extra set of hands. The HT wants to fly away when it gets over 18kts.

I usually sail the HT alone or with my 6 year old daughter in the summer when the wind is 5-12knts, and its perfect, when its windier I can usually find someone to come with me, so I havent really needed the smaller main. The Kevlar main Peter Cogan made me works really well with the main, and I can flatten it so that the top half goes away in big breeze.

I went out last year with crew and it was blowing 25-30, gusting higher. The wind was offshore and we went upwind like a rocket, the whole top of the sail was flat as a board.

You might just have Peter Cogan make you a Kevlar main and then you have a sail for a wider wind range.

Bill

Unless you're just looking for a new boat- a different/newer boat is always nice; The P19 is a very descent boat. as long as the centerboards are kept well, they usaully always will retract when hitting shallows, etc.
If you race and a P19 class- that'd be hard to find.

You could go without the jib on the windier days, or furl it. Racking the mast a bit forward before hand would help some on weather helm, as would raising the boards some. (running a 1/4 inch bungee from the pivot point to the shroud allows the boards to move well when down and allows you to wedge it in the slot to keep the board at any given depth when you want it).

Have you traveled the main car out some in heavier winds, with max downhaul and outhaul? This depowers quite a bit.

And, as has been said, have you tried a righting pole, or righting bag? What about wings? There is a guy here on Galveston Bay that homemade a NICE set of wings for his P19.

As said also, newer/different boats are always good, or at least novel, and if you race, the F18 would be a good boat.

we right 5.5 and 6.0 cats solo with a Murray's bag locally

got and photos?

I went to a cut down sail on my Hobie 16 to be able to sail in up to 20MPH wind solo. I cut the two bottom panels off an Hobie 18 sail. I can use my 16 boom or the 18 loose foot boom. I never put the full 16 sail on all last summer. I think it handles better, is just as fast and doesn't push the bow down. I sail out of a cannal into Pamlico sound. I use an electric motor and don't really want to tip over. It has survived a couple of pitch poles 2 years ago. We get lots of 15-20 mph wind.

I had the same issues with my P19MX. Excellent boat-I had it for 12 years- but I couldn't always rely on crew. I'm very happy with the blade.