Heavy Weather

I usually take two or three sail track slides off when I reef the main. I dont think there is any way to avoid that. I usually reef the main at the dock before I go out.

When the main is reefed, dropping it and gathering it in is a bit easier in high winds.

It also helps to keep the sail track lubricated so that the sail drops freely and you dont have to pull the last of the sail down.

I'll have to give an autohelm some thought. Once you drop the main and leave the tiller, the wind and waves quickly cause the boat to bear off. The wind catches the sail. Any part of the sail that isnt secure yet will fill up and flog unmercifully. Its like laundry in a Kansas tornado. Now you're standing on the cockpit seats trying to wrestle the enraged beast. That's the part I dont like.

Once I drop the main, I just try to quickly stuff as much sail as I can into a pocket and get the first sail tie on. You just want to get it under control before the wind rips it out of your hands.

You can sail the boat all day long at a 35 degree heel. Its not fast or comfortable and puts undue stress on the sails and rigging. You also tend to spill more beer.

But, its comforting to know you have all that ballast down there.

We'll have to see what Ed says. He's probably got his boat anchored outside the ballpark hoping to catch a Barry Bonds homer.

One possible solution to taming the main is to go with the Dutchman system. It's like having lazy jacks built into the sail. The main drops neatly down onto the boom. No place else to go because of the lines going from the topping lift to the boom through the sail. Tighten up the reefing lines and away you go . .

As for the head sail, the above pictured jib down haul along with keeping one of the sheets tight, should take care of that sail.

With the above systems and all lines to the cockpit, contrary to Peter's position, seems a lot safer to me.

Commanderpete,

You need a jackline on your mainsail if you have to remove slides when you reef. The jackline will eliminate this annoyance.

The jackline is simply a line that runs through the lower sail slides and allows the sail to be pulled further down the mast (ie to the reefing horns) than it normally could with the slides impeding its progress. When the sail is raised all the way, the jackline becomes taut and holds the slides tightly to the mast. But as you lower the sail, the line becomes looser and you have some slack to allow you to pull the sail away from the mast and down to the reefing horn, while leaving the slides in place.

This photo sort of shows the jackline on Glissando. You can see how the bottom of the sail is pulled away from the mast--see the white line there? That's the jackline.

Any sailmaker can do this (if they don't know what a jackline is, then go to another sailmaker!), or it would be easy enough to do if your're one of those who likes to sew. (Why do I think you're not?):D

Tim

Hi Guys, I see my name in hear a couple of times so I thought I would throw in a couple of words. First - HOW ABOUT MY GIANTS! One more win and we are the world champs. Anyone what to talk baseball lets start a new thread - I hate the dodgers...

On heavy weather sailing I agree with Skipper Theis. Sailing a strong steady wind is a lot more comfortable than having to deal with those shifting twisting squalls. I sailed all around the Maryland area for three years and used to hate seeing those damn thunder heads come rolling in.

For me out here I will go though a few regular steps as the wind builds. The first thing we will do is start pulling on halyards. Pathfinder will stay on her feet in 25knts with a full main and class jib but we need to get the drafts on the sails forward to get rid of the helm pressure. As we go along we will start opening up the tops of the sails. For the jib the leads will come aft to spill out some pressure. For the main, after the halyard taught the vang goes on hard (flat sail). If we are in semi smooth water we will ease the sheet to get some twist. If the water is getting pretty raunchy we will travel up and ease the sheet to get more twist at the top and pull down on the cunningham to keep a forward draft. The sail will flog a bit at the top but we will still have good forward bite through the water. All these adjustments are being made to keep her sailing on her lines. Thirty degrees of heel is exciting but after a bit the legs start to cramp up, the crew complains about getting wet and the boat says why are you doing this to me. More on another page.......ed

I have done a number of single handed sails/races over the years but have been to cheap top buy an auto pilot so I rig up my own system. I simply rig a bungy cord across the cockpit that holds the tiller in place with a little give from the stretch of the cord to keep her from going to one side and staying there. I then have a small line tied to the cord that runs up to the bow. When I have needed this system to keep her in a straight line it has always been when I have needed to go forward for some reason. If the weather helm starts to turn the boat I will just grab the trim line with my foot and give it a bit of a tug to get her to drive back down. Allows me to keep my hands free. After releasing the trim line the bungy cord will pull the tiller back center and I have another minute or so before we need to trim her up again.

Not the best system in the world but it's cheap (like me) and it works (for me). But if there is a Santa and you see him would you please let him know that I would love an Auto Helm........more later.......ed

One more post from me about when we go through the task of reefing. I like Bill have all our lines go to the cockpit for our main. Over the years we have put reef in and out too many times to even think about how often Some times in one race we will do it as many as six or seven times. We use a jiffy reefing system were we will lower the halyard to a mark we have made and then just cleat her off. By simply pulling on the luff and leech pre rigged lines the process is done. with the addition of the rigged vang, the boom no longer lies in the cockpit. With our and Bills system a reef can be put in and done in a little as one minute or less. To shake it we just release the luff and leech and grind the main back up.

The one thing I like about our system is both my wife and I stay in the cockpit. If the reef is going in there is a good chance the winds are over 35 knots and the sea is rough. It is not a time that I or the wife should be taking the undue risk of walking around up forward. In terms of the jib I will leave it up as long as the boat seems to be under my control. I know from experience the in a hard wind and very rough water the boat needs that jib to keep us going forward. Without it Pathfinder tends to just stall.

I recall one day a couple of years back where we were making our way back home from a cruise up one of the many rivers that feed in to the bay. We spent well over eight hours on starboard tack in winds of 45+ knots set up with a 20% reef and the class jib. We were one of only a very few boats one the water but other than getting wet our little yacht handled it just fine. I on the other hand said to myself at least a hundred times what the hell are we doing out here and thank god we are on our Ariel....ed

Interesting comments and insight.

As to the Autohelm, I was admonished last year when I took my 1,500 mile trip because I didn't have one. I considered it a luxury and one of those "I don't really need it" items. Today, on the Great Lakes, I consider it a safety necessity for single handed sailing which is what I think people were telling me before.

As for what happens when the sails are down, I always start the motor and have it in slow forward before dropping sails to maintain stearage. Plus, I don't want to drop the sails and then have the motor fail to start.

Yes, the Ariel can be knocked down by the wind. It has happened to Solsken once - fortunately only for a short period of time - but it was a very memorable time - in very confined waters bounded by rocks and cliffs. The water does not go into the cabin, but the coaming is well under water (and, in my case, the mainsail split in two).

Ed, what do you mean by a class jib? Is that the 3/4 70% jib that is Ariel standard which I call a storm jib (and which I also have 50% reef points on)?

One concern about a loose footed main and a rigid preventer/vang. The vang is putting pressure on the middle of the boom where it becomes a fulcrum. Aren't you concerned about breaking/bending the boom in a blow, or do you replace the standard issue with the high tech carbonfiber "T" booms?

I particularly appreciate your relating wind velocities to the amount of sail you carry, and hope you are not exagerating (Some sailors do, you know). I am not certain I am as bold as you guys are. Or perhaps the fifteen foot plus waves that accompany 40 mph winds on Lake Michigan are what frighten me and everyone else away.

In the Bay area you do have one problem Great Lakes sailors don't face - cold water. Lake Michigan water in the summer is in the high 60's and 70's so a splash is not debilitating - it can be refreshing. In the Bay, the water is numbing and I can understand why you don't want to go forward and face a splash. Plus, I think your wave lengths may be shorter or steeper or something as well, making for more splash.

I was musing over the night Ed's and my comments about wind speed.

What is strange to me, as I look back, is that in the sixties and seventies, before all this fancy gear, I would never hesitate to go out when there were small craft warnings (25K to 35K). Gales (35K to 45K) I tried to avoid but so be it if I get caught (and this was sailing the Ariel).

Today, reflecting back, I have trouble believing I did those things. I tend to criticize myself believing I must remember wrong, or be exaggerating but I know I am not. Today, equipped with better gear, better sails, and more experience (but am older), I avoid small craft warnings. What makes this more unbelievable to me today, is that no one else goes out when the winds get in the 25K to 35K range. I have done it for short periods a couple times in the past couple years for one reason or another and I am alone out there and don't really enjoy it - although it is exciting. But then I sail alone most often, and in earlier years I was in the dating game.

Yeah, its good to avoid steep breaking waves. I always keep a sharp lookout.

Artist's rendering:

Theis, I wish we enjoyed the water temps that you have there in the summer. The going forward in a splash is the least of our worries. It is going over that creates the biggest concern. Five minutes in the water could end up in a body recovery. IN fact just two years ago that very thing happened to one of our racing Ariels. Crew slipped while on the foredeck and ended in the lost of life. SO anything I can do to keep us all safe is always on my mind.

IN terms of wind speed on the average day in SF we will have small craft warnings. While there are areas where you can find shelter the wind is in the 20-30 knot range every day in the central bay. We will not have any large swells rolling through but we will experience waves that are steep and squared in the 3-6 foot range.

On Pathfinder we have the standard boom with all our lines internal for reef and outhaul. We do have a lose footed main and I meant to mention that I agreed that the clew is a weak link and could be pulled out. TO counter this I have a strip of Velcro that we wrap around the boom and passes though the clew It is relaxed enough so it does not bind up and allows the outhaul to be adjusted. I do have concern about putting a kink in the boom with the vang since it can place a large load on it with very little effort. In fact the first sail (race) with the new vang we did have it loaded up during a jibe and ended up yanking the goose neck right off the mast. So out came a sail tie (gasket) strapped it back on and sailed off the wind all the way home.

When I refer to our class jib I am talking about a jib that measures appx. 90%+/-
It is the class legal jib we use for racing. On Pathfinder we use a triradial cut jib that is referred to as a deck sweeper. More sail surface low than high.

I can't agree with you more on when to go out and sail and under what type of conditions I would prefer to be out in. I have told people for years that the one thing about racing yachts is that is teaches you things and puts you places that you would not normally do as a matter of routine. I sometimes hate going to a dentist (something that I carry from my youth) but if it is one the calendar I will show up. I approach racing the same way. If I am scheduled to race on the calendar I will show up. I may not want to go out there but I have a great high when we get back and some how convince myself that it wasn't all that bad. The one thing that I always keep in mind though is what will Pathfinder act like when we get out there. There is no reason to put her through something just for the sake of a trophy. We can enjoy each other just as much sitting at the dock and watching other boats come home all busted up.

Theis, again I failed to mention one more point. Your point on bending the boom. After pulling the goose neck I looked over the whole rig and decided for me the best was to avoid it happening again was do design in a weak link. So now where our vang connects to its mount on the boom I reduced the size of the shackle and now in theory this shackle will fail before anything else gives was. SO far so good just have to remember to ease the vang before a jibe.

Hey Ed. HOW ABOUT THOSE GIANTS!

You mentioned that you broke a goosneck. Was that the original type or these new fixed mount types? Last summer I broke the gooseneck with an inadvertent jibe while I was using a preventer. I guess it might be good that the gooseneck is the weakest point so that you don't bust the boom. I wonder if the fixed goosenecks where cunninghams are used rather than downhauls are so rigid that they wouldn't give, and the boom would be the weak link.

As for your cold water and the waves.. The cold water protects you against the wave actrion. When the high warm winds whistle over the cold water, a blanket of cold air over the water isolates the lighter warmer air from the water and protects the buildup of waves. This is the situation we have on the Lakes in the spring. In the fall, however, we have cold air over warm water. The heavy cold air digs under the warm air, and contacts the water and builds immense seas - seas that sank the Carl Bradley and Edmond Fitzgerald. So there is a downside to warm water.

But on the whole, the warm, fresh, clean, clear water, coupled with wonderful beaches, high sand dunes, forests, and tuck away harbors can't be topped.

On a sad note, Solsken gets pulled tomorrow to be high and dry for the next seven months. A sad time of the year.

Theis,
The goose neck that broke was the old style. We now have a fixed mount. I am not sure that this is better but at least It is attached. All we did to make it fixed was add some ears to the original hardware and then mounted it to the mast.

Water water every where, the best thing said for this is what ever the water is we get to sail in it. Warm, cold or something in between the boats don't seem to mind.
Sorry to hear that it is time for you guys to haul out again. I will be thinking about you guys while we are out there using our genoas. This is the one time of year that the winds die down and we get to pull out the big sails and use them. It is also the time that we have to pay a lot more attention to the bay currents.

With our lighter winds and strong bay currents there are times that we will be finding ourselves going backwards. Still have plenty of racing to do but we add some rode to the anchor lines so when we hit those spots with big current and lite winds we will drop the hook and hang there until something changes.

As for those giants ---- wait till next year.......ed

How would you like to have to negotiate this inlet?

Hey Pete,
Do you know where the picture is from? I know of three places one the left coast that often get like this. Morro Bay (central Calif.), Columbia River bar (Oregon) and the waters of the SF Bay (just outside the Golden Gate). I suspect there are a number of very tough inlets up in Washington as well........ed

P.S. - here is on for you-- http://www.saillinks.com/

it is slow but check the pic at the bottom of the page - it is a SAnta Cruz 50