I find the shown pointing angles, 32-36°, to be good, but not spectacular. Only on my present boat have I fitted a simple wind-direction indicator. This has the vanes set at 32° from the centreline. I find that I can quite easily sail this close with my plain, single-ply, cambered panel sail. My guess is therefore that the big, dominating gain in performance has been achieved by going from a flat to a cambered sail. The extra step up to Split JR or wing JR will only produce fine, subtle improvements, if any at all.
(.. My present boat, the IF Ingeborg, is special. Her slim hull and big keel make very little leeway, so she is actually closer-winded than any boat I have owned before...)
As for keeping my boats in the groove when close-hauled; I find that quite easy, as that groove is fairly wide, and the luff of the sail and telltales at the leach are easy to read.
My motives for choosing a Split JR would therefore be others than performance to windward:
· The sheet forces of a SJR are clearly lighter than on a sail with lower balance in it, like mine (12-17%). That would be useful, in particular when day-sailing and racing with lots of manoeuvring.
· Helms balance stays better when reaching and running, so no need to modify the rudder or arrange with adjustable sail balance.
· The squared-out SJR sail should also have better clearance to the sea than my wide low-balance sails.
· Its batten parrels cum downhauls appear to also act as active fan-up preventers. Good!
· In some cases, the high-balance sail would let one step the mast further aft, which may better suit the deck layout and interior. In other cases a low-balance sail fits better.
· The SJR could even be made by an amateur like me.
The Wing JR would never be my choice, simply because my ambition level with respect to VMG to windward - and my skills with GRP or epoxy - are not high enough. I rather choose a close-winded hull where the outboard’s leg can be swung up.
Anyway, good luck!
Arne