Heavy air - traveler car eased, mainsheet tight
I'm assuming that applies only to beating.
Our R22's have that back stay tensioning line. Under what conditions is
it adjusted? (I know this is not to be confused with the so-called
adjustable back stays that you change on every tack...thank God I don't have
that.)
Should the boom car on my IMF ALWAYS be slid up close to the clew of the
sail if I'm reefed in? I may have mine rigged wrong. It doesn't move with
the sail when I'm rolling the sail in or out. Perhaps it should. I've
just been moving it by hand and it seems to stay put where ever I position it.
I know the basics but by no means am I an expert. I've been reading
through my copy of the Annapolis Book of Seamanship, Chapman Piloting and
others which do a pretty good job of explaining sail trim, but the R22, with
the loose-footed IMF and my 175% genny (with a nod to Roger and his
explanation of the foam luff pad) may have specific aspects that aren't
covered in a book of general sailing. Would anybody care to elaborate on
this for me?
Slim
17 May 2002
Adjusting the position of the boom car relative to the clew of the mainsail
ought to be a means of adjusting sail shape. I would think having the clew
& boom car close to each other would result in the flattest possible sail
shape (i.e. shallowest draft) for going upwind in heavy air. Increasing the
distance between the boom car & the clew should allow the sail to assume a
deeper draft shape for lighter air upwind & downwind points of sail. The
only trouble is that the point of maximum draft might be too far aft on the
sail for optimum performance when the boom car & clew are widely separated.
A wide separation distance might also allow the leech to curl excessively to
windward - good for a downwind run, bad for an upwind beat. Try it & then
look up at the sail from below the boom. The point of maximum draft in the
sail ought to be about 35 - 40% of the total chord distance back from the
luff all the way up the sail, with no wrinkles or folds, & the leech should
not be curled to windward. If the point of maximum draft is back any
further than about 40% or there are any ugly wrinkles or folds, or the leech
is curled to windward; then, move the boom car closer to the clew until you
obtain the proper sail shape. There is probably only a limited range of
boom car/clew separation distances that are of practical utility. You may
find, that you can never achieve a "perfect" mainsail shape no matter where
you set the boom car relative to the clew. In this case, sail shape should
be the "best" possible with the boom car & clew set close together. With
the loose foot, no battens, & no roach; don't be too critical of your IMF
mainsail shape. There's only so much that can be done with the system &
it's never going to be as efficiently shaped as the standard mainsail.
The sail shape is most important when sailing upwind & the R-22 derives most
of its upwind thrust from the big genoa. The mainsail's main function is
really more to move the Center of Effort (CE) of the sailplan aft in order
to balance the helm. Here, the infinite adjustability of the IMF mainsail
really shines. For upwind work, you leave as much genoa unfurled as you can
stand for max BHP & adjust the IMF mainsail to balance the helm. It's all
very civilized & safe. It's just not very fast.
Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
18 May 2002
Your right about heeling slowing down the boat and
that furling the headsail to much does hender
performance. We're just pointing out that a 175%
Genoa is a tough old sail and that the Rhodes is a
tough old boat.
When we race (me & the guys) we throw the 1st reef in
the main when it starts backwinding so much that its
no longer pullin. On an inland lake we can get away
with not having to try for the 2nd reef (40k about top
wind we have seen during a race). We keep main flat
in heavy wind; Halyard tight, cunningham/downhaul, &
outhaul. We try to keep it pulling and not
backwinding. There is a point in there where you will
just have to let it backwind but the headsail will
keep pulling as long as it tight. Mainsail must be
played at all times. Bill normally works the traveler
continuely; full time job. We try to keep the top
batten parrel with the boom as much as possible but we
maintain the 20 degree heel you refer to.
Backstays are tight with consideralbe mast bend.
Healsail halyard tight and genoa sheet leads adjusted
to allow a little spill at the top. We use Maylar
headsails, 155% is maximun the rule allow without
taking a handicapp lost. In order to keep the 155% in
use, we normally will take the lost with backwinding
the mainsail. If your leads are adjusted properly
with the right amount of spill at the top; you can
maintain speed with the mainsail being icying on the
cake when it is not backwinding but I'm talking 40k
here. We do keep out mainsail in play when possible.
This will work on any boat, from the Rhodes to many
others I have raced on.
Now what some folks call tender, I call responcive.
The Rhodes will respond quickly to the wind to the
point that the flare hit the water. Never dump your
headsail when this happens. Traveler or mainsheet
will be enough to keep the boat in the groove. In
heavy wind, I keep the headsail tight and pulling at
all time with adjustments for heel being made thru the
mainsail.
Steve
23 Dec 2002
Like most sailboat hull shapes, the Rhodes 22 tends to develop weather helm
as it heels. Thus, in gusty, overpowered conditions, it is desirable to
keep as much sail area up forward as possible in order to counteract this
tendency to build weather helm. Masthead rigged boats also derive most of
their thrust from the genoa, which is another reason to leave as much of the
genoa flying as possible. On Dynamic Equilibrium, we will put 2 reefs in
the mainsail before rolling up the 150% genoa at all. By reefing the
mainsail 1st & keeping as much genoa up as possible, the Rhodes 22 will not
round up until the boat heels the rudder blade clear of the water. By this
point, you had better have all the opening ports dogged down tight & you may
very well be taking water over the gunnel into the cockpit! However, the
Rhodes 22 sails fastest when it is sailed as level as possible. It is very
much like a big sailing dingy in that respect. Most of the time, heeling is
controlled by playing with the mainsail's traveller. It's the most
frequently used sail shaping control on the boat. However, if the traveller
must be dumped to leeward more often than about once per minute in order to
prevent a knockdown or a broach, then it's time to put another reef in the
mainsail. By the time the boat is heeling enough to put the leeward rail
goes into the water, you could be going much faster if you did something to
reduce heel like dump the traveller, put more weight on the windward rail,
or reduce sail area. With its big, transom hung rudder and relatively light
weight, the Rhodes 22 is very responsive, especially with the latest
generation sails made with composite sailcloth and full batten mainsails.
The boat rewards an aggressive active style of sailing.
The Rhodes 22 is also very sensitive to fore/aft trim. On flat water, a
slightly bow down trim is faster. A slightly bow down trim allows the boat
to climb its own bow wave without burying the wide flat stern section of the
hull. Burying the stern section causes a great deal of drag and turbulence,
rather like the lowering the flaps on an airplane wing. If the boat is on
the verge of planning, a sensitive crew can actually initiate planning by
carefully shifting their weight forward to slightly sink the bow & reduce
the drag on the stern section. Note, that this requires a very good crew
because they must also keep track of sail trim, helm control, wind shifts,
their proper course, and the other boats around them. It works best with a
spinnaker on a broad reach. In waves, a different strategy must be used
which involves steering a slalom course among the waves, surfing down the
faces of the waves and bearing off to climb the backsides. In waves, the
best fore/aft trim is level with the design waterline. Trimming down by the
stern is always slow & should be avoided under any conditions.
The neat thing about the Rhodes 22 is that you can also reduce sail area &
sail in passive mode under the same conditions if the crew does not feel
like or does not know how to sail actively that day. It's really a
remarkable little boat.
Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
24 Dec 2002
