Heavy Weather

[Mike Goodwin]

Over the last 30+ years I have known the Capt and crew of Blunose II quite well and acted as there 'local' liasion when they were on Chesapeake Bay . I have stayed with them when visiting NS , partied with them and been treated quite well by them over the years. I wish I were in Mohone Bay right now instead of sweltering on ChesBay !

[Sailfast-NJ]

I think she's a Stink-pot rider at heart, but she does like the nice days!  :eek:

With regards to dousing the jib or a chute for that matter, try a sleeve, several companys make them, North has one I think. As for the main 120' or so of 1/4" line and some rope-work will make you a nice "Dutchman" that you can haul up with your topping lift (Or you could rig new hardware if you want them separate.)

I need to rig preventers myself!

[commanderpete]

Yikes.......

[Theis]

A comment.  That looks good but the portion at the lower right doesn't look like it is adequately grounded.

[commanderpete]

Lets say you're sailing along and get hit with a mighty blast of wind, starting to knock the boat over some. What do you do? Do you feather up into the wind or bear off away from it?

I don't think I've seen this issue discussed.

My choice depends on what point of sail I'm on.

Closer to the wind I'll feather up. The boat wants to do that anyway. Its difficult to bear off unless you dump the mainsheet.

Further off the wind I'll head more downwind.

Ease the main in either case.

[Theis]

Assuming you are not flying a spinnaker, let the main fly (or luff it if that will help - It is called a "fisherman's reef") and bring the boat upwind.  Never bear downwind!  You will wind up going on a reach - the worst of possibilities with the wind blowing you directly over, and then as you fall further down wind if you can, you may lose control (broach) and possibly do a flying jibe and, with that, possibly taking down your rig in the worst of cases.  Further, if headed downwind you have too much pressure on the mainsail to reefr it or take it down.  You're stuck.

With a spinnaker up (or gennaker) you go downwind so the mainsail blankets the spinnaker so you can get the spinnaker down.

With the 100% genoa, you'll need to ease off on that or the genoa will carry you downwind regardless of what you really want to do.

But rule of thumb, - always head upwind and if needed douse sails.

Hope these couple of suggestions are of interest, if nothing else.

[Ed Ekers]

A short clip of what some may call heavy weather sailing. I would call it peging the fun meter...ed



http://youtube.com/watch?v=4-PpU8MUbHE&mode=related&search=

[commanderpete]

Best part is when they get tossed around like rag dolls.

Good times.

Here's a Tripp 40  "Amuse Bouche" in the North Sea

[ebb]

'We had an anxious moment when we
slue around into the wind like a surfboarder
on the billowing crest of a coamer
so that we could douse the sails
to have lunch.'

[commanderpete]

Did a little more experimenting with heaving-to yesterday.

It works best for me with a double reefed main (no headsail).

When the wind is around 15 kts.,  I'll sheet the main in tight and leave the tiller alone.

In higher winds I'll lash the tiller to leeward and maybe ease the main a bit.

The boat makes very slow progress to windward, but can't come through the wind.

Seems to me that the wind and waves push the bow off and a backed headsail isn't helpful when you've shortened the mainsail

[Theis]

A couple points.  I don't think what you are doing is heaving to.  You are shortening sail.  To heave to defintionally, I believe, you need both sails.  One backs the other.  What you are doing is shortening sails until there is too little mainsail to drive the boat upwind and around.

You really need to balance your boat with a full main - particularly in the Great Lakes where you can get an unexpected violent blast.  You won't always have time to double reef.  Double reefing comes after you have heaved to to steady your stiuation.

You may have a different combo for each of the levels of sails.

I have found with the Ariel that a full main and a 100% jib balance well in a heave to.  I can also balance the 100% with a single reef main (80%).  I don't think I can heave to in anything other than playing around with a 170% genoa.  That big sail becomes a lateen rig when the main is luffing

I haven't tried the balancing yet with a double reef (60%), but I suspect my 70% storm would work OK.

When it really gets violent and I have time, I do what you did, get rid of the jib entirely, double reef the main, and sail the boat - Generally on a beat.  If the wind is super violent, I can luff the reefed main - but that still is not heaving to.  That is sailing.

[commanderpete]

I tried rolling out more or less backed headsail. The boat wanted to be beam-to that way. Have to fiddle around some more.

I've seen pictures of boats (Hobart Race?) flying just a storm jib. Wonder how that works.

All in the balance I guess

[Theis]

You are right it is in the balance.  The key difference between the Ariel/Commander and other boats in this regard is that the A/C has a full keel, starting largely just aft of the mast step, and a rudder after that keel.  Other current vessels, such as the Hobart racers, have a fin keel about where the mast step is, and a deep spade rudder at the far end of the hull, which provides for much more leverage than the A/C rudder gets.

With the A/C keel design, the bow can fall off very easily, while the stern stays in place.  The other guys tend to pivot around the fin keel.  The A/C rudder doesn't have the leverage to counteract an unbalanced foresail.  The positive side, of course, is that the A/C design is more stable and less sentitive to the helmsman sneezing at the wrong moment.

Another difference is that more recent vessels hae a higher aspect ratio.  The key to heavy weather sailing is to get the sail down, thereby reducing torque.  On the A/C, if you bring it down only 40% (about the practical max), there is still a great deal of sail up - along the boom but the peak of the sail is way down.  Do that with a high aspect rig, and 40% still leaves the head way up in the air.

So, returning to the A/C, the key is to balance the rig to the best of your ability.  Since the mast is forward of the center of resistance, a reduced main, with the luff beng diminished, and the outhaul being shortened, still balances.  Put up a jib in addition, and the reduced sail at the outhaul with more sail up forward, creates an imbalance and draws the A/C to leward, perhaps uncontrollably.  Drop the main entirely, while flying a 70% storm jib, and everything is way forward of the center of resistance (the balance point) and your directional options are extremely limited.

When heaving to, the jib is actually backwinding the mainsail (Heaving to is not much more than coming around without releasing the jib sheet - that is how it is done - and what results is you go into irons).  The mainsail is trying to force you upwind, and the jib is trying to force you off.  The two are balanced fighting one another, with the help of the helm held hard to weather.  the result is that you remain going slowly 20 or 30 degrees off the wind with both sails full so they don't bang and the boat largely upright.

[Didereaux]

For jib I used a simple downhaul. 5/16 line hooked on stay above top hank, led down through abouple of hanks along the way, through a small block at the stemhead and back to the cabin top.  release halyard, pull in downhaul and the jib falls to the foredeck in a hurry.  If you even out hte sheets it stays pretty much midships.

Another method I have used on someone elses boat is a ;Geary or Gerry' rig.  Run the line up through the block at the stem, then through the hank nearest to the height of the clew, then over and through the vlew back to the hank above yhe one you just went through and up to a hook which clicks on above the top hank.  When you haul this line the jib not only comes down it wads up into a bundle at the stem.  It would work best, I think if 'turning rings were sewn onto the sail itself instead of going through those hanks, but it did work, and you remain in the cockpit until you are ready to handle the saill

[Didereaux]

The previous post was made in a thread about reefing, I haven't a clue how it wound up on this thread.  ?