The remarkable course stability of the Pearson Ariel

[pbryant]

Also, I saw your video and I have to say that I too can balance my boat if I luff the main... Does this mean your Ariel is 'balanced'?

I believe you answered your own question in your subsequent post. No, my main is fully effective (not luffed) when I achieve balance. When properly balanced, my main and jib go into a full luff at exactly the same angle of attack. In the videos, I purposely headed up and luffed both sails to demonstrate how the Ariel will automatically fall off (when the tiller is released) and return to the original point of sail all on her own, thus demonstrating good course stability. Sails in good condition make a huge difference. When I first bought my Ariel, her mainsail looked like something off a ghost ship. She didn't perform well until I outfitted her with a proper mainsail.

Here is what I find with my (nearly new) sails: in light winds (< 10 kts) my 100% jib balances best with no reef taken in in the main and the boom lifted (to increase draft) by about 6 inches from vertical with the topping lift. At around 15 kts, I drop the boom to vertical and take in one reef (about 80% of a full main). Above 25 kts, I'm at my second reef on my main and I substitute a 75% jib. At 40 kts, I've got my sea anchor out, all sails are doused, and I'm sealed up down below in the cabin busily inventing new swear words - directed at myself. I also put on a helmet -- because I got tired of emerging with two black eyes and a head covered with lumps. She does wiggle around a bit in ruff water.

Here's a video showing how well she takes 7 foot seas with 3 foot windwaves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVoPa18O7k8&feature=plcp. Prepare to be bored. I shot that Sunday, Sept. 30th while returning from Pigeon Point where I was looking for 2 lost fishermen who were lost overboard from an 18 foot motor vessel that was capsized in those swells. (2 had PFDs and swam ashore - 2 didn't have PFDs... and washed up on shore later.) I was close hauled (with the jib doused), the traveler hauled hard to windward, making 5 knots in 15 to 20 knots of wind. These were long period swells with no breakers in 170 feet of water. No problem at all for the Ariel. It was a very comfortable ride. I had one reef taken in on the main. Yes, she'd do 1 knot faster with the main hauled all the way up, but since I'm not a racer, I place more importance on stability than speed. (Besides, why shorten a nice voyage?)

I agree that the Ariel handles weather astoundingly well for her size, but there are still times I don't take her out. My harbor (Pillar Point - Half Moon Bay, CA) gets really exciting swells near the entrance in foul weather and northwest swells rolling in from storms in Alaskan waters. Just outside the harbor breakwater and to seaward (west) is an area the surfers call "Mavericks" where we get some of the largest breaking waves in the world. If you're curious about the local scenery here, try to catch the movie "Chasing Mavericks" that's coming out this month (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YYc3jRoua8). Because of the seastate issues here, I make it a point to have as little experience possible with winds over 40 knots - and the 15 to 20 foot seas that often accompany those winds. And I avoid sailing in the company of surfers.

"There are old sailors, and there are bold sailors. But there are no old bold sailors."