hi guys
i was just wondering , how many people build thier own boats. what would your ideal ratio be . on your sail pattern. 60/40.
sort of like 60 % of your total sail area being in your main. and 40 % on the jib?
or would you rather have it 70/30 or 50 /50
just an idea. i would like to know what other people think. i am going with 60/40/ with most of my designs:zbeer:
looking for your input
This is something I have viewed for years with interest. It seems to me from looking at the older models that were developed for free sailing or vane gear that the ratio of main:jib is much greater. This carrys over to some models still made today such as the Santa Barbara and the Newport 12M. Both models IMHO have an exaggerated main compared to the jib. You will also notice in those models that the mast is usually further forward on the boat than in other cases.
As with any other aspect of the design of the boat/rig they can all be balanced out in some manner to make the boat sail properly, with the only question remaining as to how radical one aspect needs to be to counter the other. Remembering that the further you move something the further it may go wrong. 
One needs to be careful about drawing conclusions from the whole range of free-sailing evolution, as the relation between sailing dynamics and steering gear differed significantly once the Braine gear was invented and then the vane. Roughly, these are:
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Simple Braine gear, mainsheet to tiller on the run only.
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“Full-up” Braine gear, jib steering on beat and reach
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Vane with fixed mast position (required in International A Class)
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Vane with sliding rig (which I’ve dubbed the “Lassel System”)
The differences come, not in how they handle “normal” circumstances, but in the way they cope with puffs and lulls going to windward (which was 150% more important than leeward work in free sailing).
And then, of course, there is the powerful role of fashion in yacht design, where somebody may have picked a ratio just because it “looked right.”
Cheers,
Earl